Human Again
by andrella07
Summary: It's been 6 months since Alice's attack on Umbrella in Tokyo.  Her wounds have finally healed from the crash and she's ready to rejoin the survivors in Alaska without fear that she will bring them harm. But the ex-project doesn't find what she expected...
1. Alice

**Disclaimer: I own nothing, and am not receiving any profit from this story. This is simply me spinning things how I want them to go. **

**This story takes place during Resident Evil: Afterlife.**

**Feedback is greatly appreciated**

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Chapter 1: Alice's Confession

"May 3rd, 1930 hours…Arcadia – no such place exists – just an empty field and a beach. We all heard the transmissions someone must have sent them. Someone must've brought all these people here, but why? Where did they go? Day 177 signing off…I don't know if I can do this much longer…What if I'm the last one, what if there is no one else? No one to watch these tapes. Is this my punishment, for letting all this happen?" Alice let the film role; she wasn't sure what else to say. To her right Alice heard a noise; she jerked her head up and looked in the direction of the sound. She could just barely make out a silhouette fleeing into the cover of the trees. Alice was quick to give chase, leaving her camera – her story behind for the one chance that the shadow she was pursuing was a survivor. "Hey! Wait!"

The hunt took Alice back to the field of planes. "Wait, please stop," she demanded but she could see the figure no longer. "Hello?...Hello? Answer me." One of the plane's doors was creaking on its hinges, and it made the hairs on Alice's neck stand up. Now more than ever her new found mortality kicked in. _I'm not invincible anymore – I have to be careful, _she thought as she pulled out both of her Smith and Wesson revolvers, and approached the silver plane. She slowly neared the door; when she could get no closer she quickly looked into the plane guns at the ready.

Huge, black crows flew towards her face in a loud whir of noise. Alice twisted out of the way, and gave a sigh of relief as they passed right over her and into the sky.

Alice wondered to herself if she was just getting too paranoid or seeing things that she wanted to see. She didn't get much of a chance to think about it, because just as she turned to go back to the beach a fist connected with her face and knocked her down. The air left her lungs as she landed on the earth, but she tried to focus on what was going on. She made note of a person lunging at her, a tangle of long, dirty hair, and a knife destined for her throat. Alice had lost both of her guns, so her hands were free to stop the downward thrust of the blade.

The figure above grunted and put everything they had into driving the knife into Alice's flesh. Without her superhuman strength, Alice had to rely on her fighting experience to defend herself. She kicked the stranger off her and was able to stand and face her attacker. The woman rushed her once more, but Alice was ready. She kicked the woman again, this time sending her flying onto the silver plane's wing and knocking her unconscious. The body slid to the ground and landed face down. With her booted foot Alice rolled the stranger on her back and got a good look at the face of the person who tried to kill her.

Alice took a sharp intake of breath and thought, _Claire? _Alice was in shock. She struggled to believe that this was the woman she fought beside in the desert. Claire looked starved and unkempt. _How did she get to be this way_, Alice thought, _and why did she attack me?_ Something clearly wasn't right. The more she looked at Claire the more uneasy she felt; it was then that she noticed the red metallic scarab clinging to her chest.

The bug needed to come off, that much was clear, but Alice had no idea what would happen when it did. So she decided as a precaution to tie Claire's hands to the plane's tire well. Alice bent over Claire and gently lifted her up, and propped her against the silver plane. From her coat pocket Alice pulled out a thin rope and secured Claire's hands above her head. It was getting late and she didn't know when the redhead would wake, but she hoped that Claire would forgive when she did – for more than one thing… but that was wishful thinking.

When the redhead was secure Alice took hold of the machinery in one hand and pulled until she felt the force of the bug's grip give way. She left studying the scarab for a later time and turned her attention back on Claire.

She needed to go back to the beach to retrieve her tape recorder, but she couldn't leave Claire alone; it was too dangerous. The ex-project took note of her surroundings one more time and set off to collect some fire wood nearby. It would be a chilly night, but one that showed more promise than any in the past few months.


	2. Claire Redfield

Chapter 2: Claire Redfield

The moon had risen by the time Alice collected enough wood for the night and completed her exercises. She ate a little of her food supply to keep up her energy, but she was determined to make sure that the redhead would have more than enough. On the other side of the fire Claire began to stir. Alice held her breath; only letting it back out when the other woman began to fight the rope binding her wrists.

Alice walked over to Claire's side of the flames and said in calming tones, "Hey-hey, it's ok," but Claire just grunted at her in retaliation and pulled on the ropes again. "Sorry about that, but I had to get this thing off you," Alice said as she held up the red metallic bug reflecting the firelight. "What is this? Who did this to you?"

Claire did nothing but glare at Alice.

"Do you even know who I am?" She looked into Claire's eyes and saw no recognition of the history they both shared, just a steady look of distrust. "My name is Alice. We met in the Nevada desert 18 months ago – any of this sound familiar? Mikey, Carlos, LJ? K-mart? You left in a helicopter with a group of survivors headed for Alaska. Arcadia, remember?"

Alice's questions were desperate and pleading, but Claire only shook her head. It confirmed the one thing Alice feared above all else. Sure she had felt alone before, had certainly been alone before, but this was the first time she felt truly alone in another's presence. She thought she was a freak and that her infection made her separate from everyone else, but it never hurt like this.

Alice tried again to get a reaction from the redhead – to spark Claire's recollection of who she was and what happened. "You're name is Claire Redfield, do you remember that?"

Claire glanced at the planes around her; didn't even look at Alice when she replied, "No." Her voice was raspy and unsure. Claire looked down embarrassed at her lack of knowledge, and her eyes took in the red vest she was wearing until she noticed a puncture mark in her skin just above the top of her cami where a small trickle of blood lie between her breasts.

"You've been drugged by this thing," Alice said as she made a motion with the spider in her hand. "It would explain the memory loss." Claire starred at the spider, her uncertainty obvious.

"My name is Claire?" she said in distaste; it didn't sound familiar enough to be really hers.

"You'll get used to it," Alice replied. It was almost funny the expression on the redhead's face as she said her own name. Really it wasn't funny at all, but the seriousness of the situation was too much for Alice to handle right now. Claire didn't remember anything, more importantly Claire didn't remember her, and there was the possibility that she never would.

"Your arms must be hurting," Alice said as she crossed the distance to where Claire sat. "I'm going to re-tie you so you're more comfortable, don't try anything." The angry look in the redhead's eyes was easily translated for Alice, it said: _Oh wow, what gave that away? Thanks for considering my comfort. You're such a nice captor. _Alice untied Claire's hands from the tire well and instead tied them in front of her. With one hand firmly set on Claire's shoulder to keep her in place, she used the other to grab more rope from her coat pocket. The end result was that Claire could move her arms at the elbow, but both of her upper arms and chest were fit snuggly against the landing gear of the plane.

Although Claire didn't want to admit it, it was more comfortable.

"You're probably hungry too…" Alice waited to see if she would get a reply; the silence was starting to get to her.

When none came, Alice picked up her pack and found the can of Spaghettio's she'd been saving for Claire. She used a can opener on the lid, and once it was pried open set a spoon inside it then placed it on the ground next to the redhead. The way her arms were tied it would be difficult for her to eat but not impossible. Claire looked at it, and then looked away in stubborn disinterest.

Alice sighed and set out her sleeping gear, placed her warmest blanket near Claire's other side, then laid down facing away from her to rest. Minutes passed in silence except for the crackling of the fire until Alice heard the redhead pick up the can and begin eating.

When Claire was done with the food Alice listened to her breathing until she was sure the woman was asleep and turned to face her.

"Good night, Claire," Alice whispered softly and only then did she finally close her eyes intent on rest. But the ex-project didn't get any sleep that night; too often was she roused by the noise of shifting logs in the fire, and rusted wind-turned propellers. Her senses were heightened because once again – she had something to lose.


	3. My name is Alice

Chapter 3: "My name is Alice…"

In the earliest hour of daylight when Claire woke up, Alice untied her from the plane but made sure her hands were still securely bound together. She chose to continue to face the woman afraid of what Claire would do if she turned her back again. Her mind chastised herself for being so distrustful of the redhead, so she tried to offer Claire a hand up but the woman wouldn't take it. She rose on her own and took an apprehensive step away from Alice to retrieve the knife lost in the grass. Claire didn't remember that it was the knife from the day before when she attacked Alice, but she knew she needed it. Alice witnessed the redhead's intent and snatched it up first.

"That's MY knife!" Claire demanded.

"You remember it?" The brunette asked in surprise. Claire nodded, suddenly surprised herself. "I'm just going to hold onto this a while, until we get to know each other a little better," she explained. The redhead narrowed her eyes, and for a second Alice thought she was going to be attacked again, but when no assault came she felt relief.

"What happens now?"

"I suppose you have a choice. You can leave – or you can stay with me," Alice swallowed and fiddled with the knife afraid of the answer, but trying not to let it show. She examined the silver hook-point at the end of the blade and followed it down until the sawing edge took over, and finished with a worn faux-wooden handle. It was a fine weapon that showed obvious signs of use. _Just what have you been cutting Claire, for these past long months, _Alice thought, _other survivors? _The second that thought crossed the taller woman's mind she mentally shuddered.

They'd all done terrible things since the outbreak, and some before Alice noted, but whatever Claire had done while she was under the influence of that spider was not her fault. Alice believed her reasoning was sound, but she also believed blindly that the redhead could never be like the monster she saw inside herself.

"You might even get your knife back," Alice continued.

Claire scowled at the mention of her lack of weapons. She didn't like feeling so defenseless and vulnerable, especially since Alice looked like a walking armory ready for a fight around every corner.

"How do I know I can trust you?" The younger woman asked.

"You don't, but I'm the best chance you've got if you want to survive." Honestly, Alice would've said anything to convince Claire to stay, but that just so happened to be a fact. No one knew the virus like she did.

"Survive? Survive what?"

"If you really want to know, there are tapes you can watch. But I left them at the beach," Alice started off towards the trees, but only made it about five feet before she realized Claire wasn't following. "Are you coming?"

"It seems I don't really have a choice after all."

Despite the pessimistic way Claire said it, Alice was overjoyed. The walk to the beach was quite; broken only by the sound of the coming and going of waves. Both of the girls were timid, and careful enough to keep each other in their peripheral vision.

When they came to the water Alice saw that her camera was sitting on the log exactly where she'd left it. She surmised that the tape-recorder's battery was probably dead, but that didn't matter much because she had an adequate supply of replacements. The women passed the helicopter to reach the shore, and Alice was sad to see Claire's non-reaction to the piece of machinery and the faded but recognizable Umbrella logo.

"Hold on, I'll set it up for you." Alice exchanged the spent tape with the first of the series that was recorded five years ago, and inserted a fresh battery. When the camera came to life she hit play and handed it to Claire.

Clair sat on the drift wood as static occupied the screen, within seconds Alice's face materialized. She studied the old Alice, she was clearly someone who'd experienced horror but this Alice seemed disconnected, almost callous which was nothing like the woman before her now who was restlessly pacing a few yards away. Sure Alice's face showed the tension of living with fear, but it also held compassion…and sadness.

"_My name is Alice. I worked for the Umbrella Corporation, the largest, most powerful commercial entity in the world. I was head of security at a secret hi-tech facility called the Hive, a giant underground laboratory developing experimental viral weaponry, but there was an incident. The virus escaped and…everybody died. The trouble was – they didn't stay dead." _

There was a reason Alice never watched these tapes. She couldn't help but think of all the people she'd lost. Their names danced in her head often, but their deaths shadowed her nightmares. Rain, Matt, Carlos…those were the ones that haunted her the most.

To Claire the video was a complete shock, but even she had to admit that the fear they instilled in her felt familiar. There was a pause in the film but before the redhead had enough time to think, Alice was back talking into the camera, this time looking a little older, her hair a curly mess. Behind Alice was a BMW motorcycle, and behind that nothing but desert and sky. Suddenly Claire was filled with the sense of a glaring sun, wind-blown sand, and the sound of birds.

"_Raccoon city was just the beginning. The Umbrella Corporation thought they had contained the infection, well they were wrong. Within weeks the T-virus had consumed the United States, within months – the world. The virus didn't just wipe out human life. Lakes and rivers dried up, forest became deserts, and whole continents were reduced to nothing more than barren wastelands. Slowly but surely, the earth began to wither and die. What few survivors there were learned to keep on the move. We avoided major cities. If we stopped any place too long they would be drawn to us. A few at first, but then more and more, a never ending army of undead. For those of us left, staying on the road seemed the only way to stay alive."_

That first video was a short one, but also the most gruesome. The shots of the people panicking outside Umbrella's barricaded walls, of bloody mutations climbing on the ceiling of a church, of corpses emerging from their graves; even the newscaster's horrific death at the hands of the undead children was on that tape. So when Alice realized Claire wasn't watching it any more, that she was just staring at the camera, she walked back over to the redhead and took it from her shaking hands.

"I'm sorry you had to watch that."

"God, everyone I know must be dead." Claire stated her voice emotional.

"Who do you remember?" Alice asked, trying desperately not to get her hopes up that the redhead's memories were returning.

"I can just see faces. I don't know their names."

"That's great!" Claire looked at Alice in bewilderment until the brunette realized what she had just implied. "I-I meant it's good that you are getting your memories back."

"Something tells me I don't want to get my memories back."

It hurt Alice to hear that, but of course she understood how Claire felt. Who would want to remember everyone they ever loved; then remember a few seconds later that they're all dead?


	4. Hesitation

**So, I have been using military time and will continue to do so in this fic. If you don't know how to read it I'll help you out, it's pretty simple. Basically 0000 (or 2400, they are interchangeable) hours is midnight and 1200 hours is noon. The last two digits will never go above 59 (just like on a digital clock). So here's an example class, what time is 1637 hours? ...Anyone?...Ok you there in the back who's raising their hand like mad, what's the answer? "4:37 pm" Yeah! I've taught you so well.**

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Chapter 4: Hesitation

The ex-project looked down at her watch, _0600 hours. We should get moving_, she thought. Until, and if, Claire gets her memories back Alice's plan was to just go west and head along the coast. Alice felt useless. Although she had found one survivor it had seemed that she failed the rest. It was her fault they'd come up here in the first place to an unknown fate. If she hadn't shown Claire and Carlos that book things would be different now.

"Let's go back to the plane," Alice said to the younger woman who was still sitting on the log, tied hands in her lap. The brunette offered her help up, but again Claire rejected it. Alice didn't know what to make of this new Claire. Some things were the same like her stubbornness, but the uncertainty in herself and the cold disrespect of Alice was upsetting.

Back at the red single-engine airplane Alice riffled through her belongings, and pulled out a siphoning hose and empty gas can. It didn't take her long to fill up her plane and the extra can. She only wished she could cart more fuel, but the plane could only hold so much weight especially with another passenger onboard. As Alice went from plane to plane draining it of its fuel, Claire sat by the dying embers of the fire and pulled the blanket around herself that she'd used the night before. The redhead was trembling, but she didn't really know if it was from the cold or the fear. Secretly she was grateful for the taller woman's presence. The younger woman had no idea how she'd survived on her own. Minutes passed and she finally felt warm enough to remove the blanket, but her shaking continued.

"You hungry?" Alice asked and it startled Claire out of her thoughts. The longhaired woman shook her head no; the thought of eating anything after watching that video made Claire nauseous. "Ok, how about washing up then? I noticed a small lake east of here when I was landing." Alice had a feeling that Claire wouldn't pass this opportunity up even if the water was freezing. Claire got up and started walking towards the sun. "Wait a minute – I have to grab some things."

If the redhead thought stopping was an inconvenience, she quickly changed her mind when she saw what Alice held in her hands; a towel, a fresh set of clothes, and a hair brush. For the first time in 18 months, Alice had made another human being smile, and the brunette smiled in return.

"You can wash your old clothes too, and we can dry them before we leave," the taller woman commented.

When they reached the water's edge Claire held out her hands to be untied, but Alice looked at her with one eyebrow raised.

"Are you going to attack me if I cut you loose?" Alice questioned, pulling Claire's knife out from under her coat.

Claire smiled in anticipation, and brought her hands closer to the taller woman ready to be freed, but as she did Alice put the knife away and said, "Sorry, you hesitated." Claire grunted in disappointment. "I'm kidding, just don't do anything crazy," Alice said as she redrew the knife and sliced through the rope. "And I'm still keeping this," Alice referred to her recently acquired blade.

Claire rolled her eyes, and once freed rubbed her wrists attempting to get some amount of motor control back into them. When she was ready to start undressing she noticed that Alice was still standing right in front her seemingly oblivious of what was about to take place.

"Um, turn around," Claire demanded while twirling her finger.

Alice smirked and threw up her hands in mock surrender; if she didn't know any better she would say that she was feeling playful. She took a few steps back and did as the redhead requested. Seconds later she heard Claire gasp and whipped around. Her eyes scanned the area for danger, but the most dangerous thing she saw was a partially submerged and naked Claire giving her the look of death.

"Sorry," she mumbled in the direction of the redhead, and decided it would be less tempting to look again if she sat and meditated. It was a technique Alice used often to quiet her mind back when she was more than human, and it helped her settle now.

Claire didn't last long in the cold water. She quickly dressed and was ready to be warm again. The clothes Alice had given her were a little long, but over all they fit well enough. She wrapped her old clothes in the towel, and set them near the shore as she picked up the brush and ran it through her dripping hair. When she was done she noticed that Alice was sitting very still beneath an old tree her eyes closed. She almost didn't want to disturb the woman because she seemed so peaceful, but she approached Alice anyway and tried to be quiet about it.

The redhead walked past her a little ways, then turned to face her as Alice opened her eyes. Claire looked like a new woman.

"Th-thanks." Claire tried to offer Alice back her brush but the woman wouldn't take it.

"You're shivering," Alice said concerned. She stood to take off her coat and handed it to the redhead. Claire accepted the fur-lined fabric and wordlessly put it on.

When they got back to the make shift camp, Alice stoked the dying fire until the flames were brought back to life while Claire set out her clothes around it.


	5. Prince Rupert

**Disclaimer: I own nothing... still...**

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Chapter 5: Prince Rupert

"May 4th, 0800 hours, plotting a course for Prince Rupert in British Columbia. I'll pass Vancouver, drop down to Portland, after that it's Medford, San Francisco, and the rest of the western seaboard…My passenger is still as talkative as ever. Whatever that thing was it was injecting her with some sort of drug, something that causes memory loss. I just hope the effects aren't permanent." Alice switched off the camera, ending her latest video log. The flight ahead of them to Prince Rupert would take almost two and a half hours if the wind kept its course.

The first two hours passed in complete silence after that, when Alice was alone the silence wasn't so bad, but having Claire enclosed in such a small space with her, she could do nothing but think about it. She wanted to know what the redhead was thinking about; she wanted to be a part of her life, like before. When smoldering days in the desert led to passionate starry nights.

"Your name… is Alice right?"

"She speaks." Alice lifted her eyebrows in surprise.

"Look I'm sorry about back there. I-I don't know what happened." Claire apologized sincerely.

"I know you don't, and don't worry about it – my face will heal," Alice responded as she brought her hand up to touch her sore jaw.

"Your face?"

Alice glanced behind her and saw Claire's confused expression. "You don't remember the fight?"

"No, but I guess that explains why my ribs hurt."

Alice grimaced, "Yeah, sorry about that."

"Why were we fighting?"

"I really have no idea. I landed here and went looking for you and the others when you attacked me." Claire went quiet but Alice didn't want the conversation to end. "So, if you weren't apologizing about the fight, what were you apologizing for?"

"For being so hostile, but who do you trust when you don't even know who you are?"

"I know the feeling," Alice said pensively. "Back when I worked for Umbrella, at the start of the outbreak, a defense system went off and I got gassed. I couldn't remember anything. I trusted someone I shouldn't have, and it cost me."

"What happened?"

"That story's gonna have to wait for another time – we're here."

Alice turned the plane away from the shores of British Columbia and headed further out to sea, towards the Queen Charlotte Islands.

"We're not going to land on the mainland?"

"No, the undead population will be less on one of these isolated islands."

Alice spotted a congregation of small bush-planes parked near a runway on one of the smaller islands, and decided that was their best bet for more fuel without depleting her own supply. The landing was easy compared to some of the others she had in the past, but Alice didn't cut the engine right away. She glanced to her left and right, looking for any immediate danger. When she found none she shut down the airplane and said to Claire, "Stay put." Alice pulled back the windshield and climbed on to the plane's wing then jumped to the ground, un-holstering both of her revolvers as she did so.


	6. Claire's Reintroduction to the Undead

Chapter 6: Claire's Reintroduction to the Undead

The air was cold and had even more of a bite to it than it did in Alaska, where at least there was some cover of trees to fight the wind, unlike this island. But that wasn't the kind of shiver Alice felt right now as she walked past the bush-planes to a large garage, where more than likely the fuel was stored. She needed to check it out but she couldn't leave Claire in the plane alone, the ex-project was far enough away already. As she was about to return she heard a groan, the calling card of the undead, and it was coming from the garage.

Alice kept her weapons trained on the open garage door as a figure emerged from the black interior. At the sight of her, the decaying corpse was filled with purpose. Alice's adrenaline skyrocketed; with a shot to the leg Alice brought the undead to its knees, and followed up with a shot straight through the creature's skull. Another fiend emerged from the doorway and Alice wasted no time in extinguishing the new threat. The second body collapsed onto the first and added its own coagulated blood to the slowly advancing pool beneath them both.

The ex-project heard a footfall behind her and jerked around, fully prepared to put a bullet in the center of another undead's brain.

"Jesus, Claire! I thought I told you to stay in the plane!" Alice took her guns off the redhead but didn't lower them completely, there could still be more of the infected nearby and she had to be ready.

"I'm sorry. I the heard gun shots – I was worried. Is that…" Claire was at a loss of words at how to describe the gory scene in the garage doorway, so the ex-project finished her sentence for her completely unaware that Claire had just apologized and admitted to being worried for her.

"Yes, it's the undead," Alice said coldly as she turned back to the garage and replaced one of her pistols with a flashlight. "Stay close to me. I have to check this place out for fuel."

Claire swallowed, and did what she was told. Alice stepped over the corpses and as Claire did so she had to hold her hand over her nose and mouth to block out the smell. The redhead's eyes struggled to adjust to the darkness but she was able to keep the taller woman in her sight.

"Ah, there it is," Alice said as her light shined on a large red tank with the spray painted word **FUEL** on its side. It seemed that this room had been built exclusively to house the tank of fuel, because there was virtually nothing else in it, just a few standard tools, an overhead light, a couple of gas cans lined up against the far wall and next to them a door; other than that the two undead had been the room's only additional occupants. Alice walked over to the tank and tapped her flashlight on the metal hull. The noise it made hardly echoed at all, meaning the tank was full, more good news.

Alice assumed that the closed door led to the rest of the structure, but the ex-project needed to secure the area and that meant opening the door. She rounded the tank and pushed down the handle with her elbow, and used her body weight to force open the heavy fire-safe door while keeping her gun and flashlight at the ready.

Parts of the metal roof were eaten away by rust, sporadically dotting the room with light. Alice passed through one of these beams and entered the space with Claire on her heels. In front of them were large shelves filled with tools, passing the shelves they came to a metal-working table where a welding project lay unfinished; the arc-welder resting next to it like any minute its owner would come back and complete what they had started. Alice thought it was a little crazy to weld so close to a fuel tank, but who was she to chastise a healthy desire to die? _Always the pessimistic one; maybe it wasn't that they wanted to die, but that they didn't think they would_, Alice amended.

Claire neared the table gleaning a closer look at the warped metal. She couldn't discern its function but perhaps it didn't have one, perhaps it was only meant to be aesthetic. Claire had no use for such things, even if its sharp, reaching silver-spires were beautiful. The redhead was too transfixed on the metallic curiosity to notice that Alice had walked away from her intent on searching through the tool shelves for something useful. Claire was so engrossed with it, that she reached out to touch it; she wanted to connect with something that she didn't understand. Just as she was about to touch the top most spear her awareness was drastically heightened. She could smell the oxidizing metal above her, taste the stale air, see tiny dust particles pass through rays of light, hear Alice searching through pieces of junk, and feel – feel something grabbing her ankle.

The redhead screamed and Alice rushed to her as Claire was dragged to the floor. Along with Claire's exaggerated senses, time seemed to slow. She could see every minute movement the person made as he crawled out from under the table and up her body. Claire didn't even think to fight back, she was terrified. The man on top of her was literally rotting away; his skin was showing signs of disintegration, his scalp was patched with tufts of hair, a dry-unhealed bite wound with dead-flapping skin was present on his neck, but what scared her the most was the desire in his eyes; the driven need to open his mouth wider when he neared the exposed skin above Claire's breasts. The redhead screamed one last time as the man began his descent. But just as he was about to tear into her goose-bumped flesh, a pair of hands reached around the man's head and twisted it, until Claire heard a resounding snap.

Before the body could collapse the rest of the way onto the redhead, Alice shoved it aside and yanked Claire to her feet away from it. She put her hands on Claire's shoulders to steady her and searched her body for any visual signs of damage.

When she found none she asked in a panicked tone, "Are you ok?" But Claire didn't respond; she was frozen. Alice needed to calm down, so she let out the unstable breath that hadn't realized she'd been holding. Her control back in place she asked again, "Claire," her relaxed voice caught the redhead's attention and she looked into Alice's blue eyes, "Are you alright?"

Claire nodded but Alice could tell that she was clearly shaken. Alice was confused; she'd never seen Claire so helpless. She hadn't been with Claire the first time the redhead had a run in with the undead, so she didn't know how she had reacted. But Alice had a hard time believing that Claire had done nothing to defend herself.

Alice continued to talk but Claire didn't listen. The once human being lying on the floor looked like a rag doll, limbs contorted and spread in every direction. The redhead noted the brute's hands were encased in leather gloves, and facing up next to him was a welding helmet with its protective glass shield cracked. Claire could almost see the welder with all his protective gear on, slaving over his metal fabrication while someone came up behind him, his glowing welder covering up the noise of the intruder's footsteps. A sharp pain in his neck gushing warm blood, and then – Claire's thoughts were interrupted when Alice slipped her hand into hers. The contact was electrifying.

"Come on, let's go outside," Alice said as she led Claire away from the carnage of the garage.

Once they were in the fresh air the redhead finally seemed to have a sense of what was going on. This was her world now; it was one of horror and fear. From deep within Claire a resolve bubbled to the surface. She promised herself that she would never be that afraid again, and released Alice's hand.


	7. Infected

Chapter 7: Infected

Alice was long practiced in refueling her plane, so it took no time at all. In order to stay on target they needed to be headed towards Vancouver by 1400 hours. Technically Alice didn't need to be anywhere at any predetermined time, but having a schedule and sticking to it made her feel secure. It gave her life structure amidst all the chaos.

The taller woman was starting to wind down from the stressful situation in the garage when Claire was attacked. It was obvious to Alice that the redhead needed to be trained in self-defense if her memories of how to do so would not return. Claire probably wasn't in the best state of mind to begin, but they had time to kill.

"No time like the present," Alice said to herself then made a motion to Claire. "Come over here." Claire left her place leaning against the plane and walked towards Alice. "Attack me," Alice demanded and turned her back to the shorter woman.

Claire stopped in her tracks confused, "What?"

Alice looked over her shoulder and replied, "I'm going to teach you how to defend yourself, so you'd best get a running start."

Claire seemed to think it over.

"Unless you'd like to rely on me to save your ass all the time." Alice turned her back away smugly, and the comment goaded the redhead just as she hoped it would.

Claire charged her and just as she was about to tackle the taller woman, Alice deftly moved to the side and the redhead fell to the ground.

"Lesson one: don't defend yourself from what you can avoid…and lesson two: act – don't react."

Claire picked herself up and dusted off her jeans; she was humiliated but she understood the message. Only the smart survive.

"The only way to kill someone who's been infected is to severe the spinal column; shoot them in the head, break their neck, you get the idea." The ex-project was coldly efficient in her mannerisms and the way she spoke about killing. "Keep in mind that the undead aren't sensitive to pain; they are completely mindless in everything except their need to feed."

Alice readied herself for another attack by holding out her left arm and nodded to Claire, "Grab me."

This time the redhead approached apprehensively but took hold of Alice's forearm. The second Alice felt Claire's grip tighten she took her free hand and pried away Claire's thumb, causing her to lose her hold of the arm while Alice explained what she was doing.

"The undead like to grab, the best way to get out of it is to pull at the thumbs." When Claire's hand was completely removed Alice grabbed Claire's shoulder forcefully, "Your turn." The redhead successfully dislodged Alice like the taller woman had shown her.

"Good, now hold your arms up like this," Alice positioned Claire's arms so that she could better parry any incoming attacks at her torso or face, "Don't let me get a hold of you." Alice reached out slowly at first and her arm was swatted away easily; she tried again and again picking up speed and intent, but Claire blocked her every effort. Even if Claire didn't remember the motions to defend herself, her body did. It had been the same for Alice when she was trapped in the Hive.

Suddenly the ex-project wasn't just trying to grab Claire she was actually attempting to land blows on the smaller woman; after that the clash became equal parts of give and take. Neither one of them could get any hits in, but Alice wasn't giving it her all.

Minutes passed and Alice could tell that the redhead was tiring because she was on the defense, and her parries were becoming sloppy; such fatigue in a fight could result in a serious injury. So she decided enough was enough. Dropping to a crouch, she spin-kicked Claire's legs out from under her. The redhead landed with a thud and a sharp expulsion of breath. What Alice heard next surprised her; she'd kind of excepted Claire to be upset that she'd been knocked on her ass again, but Claire was laughing.

Alice timidly offered her a hand up, and was so caught off guard that she couldn't stop the smiling redhead from taking hold of her hand and pulling her on the ground next to her. Claire's laughter was full out, legitimate, and infectious; Alice couldn't help but laugh alongside her.

They only stayed like that for the better part of a minute, but it was a moment of joy unrivaled by most of Alice's happiest memories.


	8. Honeymoon

Chapter 8: Honeymoon

"1355 hours, May 4th. Leaving the Queen Charlotte Islands flying through Vancouver, then landing in a town called Rockaway Beach west of Portland, Oregon." Alice switched off her recorder and placed it back in her shoulder bag.

"So, Oregon huh?" Claire asked.

"Yep, I know a nice place we'll be able to stop and rest." At least Alice hoped it was still nice; she hadn't been to Rockaway Beach for years, but it was such a small town and mostly dead to begin with that a few undead walking around would be more life then the place had seen in its heyday.

Claire fell asleep as they passed over Vancouver two and a half hours later. The wind was such that they didn't make any time, but didn't lose any either. Alice was almost jealous of Claire, not because she was asleep but because she seemed so at peace. Alice almost never felt that way, especially in her rest. Her sleep was that of the guilty; every night it was the same nightmare causing her to twitch and turn. She craved the occasional nights of oblivion where she was so tired that she just blacked out.

An hour and a half later, Alice woke Claire and readied the plane to land in an abandoned hay field. As they exited the plane, again gun at the ready, Alice could taste the salt on the air.

They walked about half a mile to a grove of mature trees. They were so tall and thick that the women couldn't see the building that Alice knew was behind them. After a minute or two of walking through the dense congregation of forest they emerged upon the shoreline and a venetian style beach house. The building had high arches and low angle rooftops, a gesture to ancient times. Tangles of stretching vines encased sections of the walls, one window was broken, but overall the structure looked in good condition. They crossed into the threshold of the house silently and went from room to room checking for danger, Alice didn't want another welder incident.

Most of the floors were either wooden or marble tile, so their footsteps echoed and it made the ex-project wary. If anything was in the house, their presence would be announced loud and clear but there was no avoiding it. The inner walls were adorned with silver framed mirrors and traditional style paintings. Each room they entered was more richly adorned than the one before it, but it all paled in comparison to the very last room, the master bedroom.

Large bay windows facing the ocean illuminated the canopy-covered king-size bed. The wooden armoire, nightstands, and bed posts were all of expensive cherry, and a white marble fireplace was adorned with carved angelic-figures. The lavishness and frivolity of it all made Alice feel sick, at least that's what she wanted to pretend. With the initial sweep completed Alice re-holstered her pistol, and Claire took it as sign that conversation was now ok.

"This place is amazing!" Claire said with wonder, as they went back down the short hallway and into the gathering room.

"Mm, I spent my honeymoon here."

"You're married?"

Alice snorted at the question in amusement. "Hardly. It was a set-up by Umbrella; part of my cover."

"Oh, what happened to the guy?"

"He got what he deserved," Alice's humor vanished at the mention of the man who took everything from her. Spence could be blamed for a lot of things…

"So, Umbrella's responsible for this cluster fuck?"

But so could Alice.

"To an extent."

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing, just forget it," Alice responded curtly.

Claire stopped her line of questioning, but the damage was done. Alice said next to nothing as they searched the house for useable items, leftover food, and Claire was still in awe that such a beautiful place could exist in the middle of nowhere. Like the house, dinner was relatively extravagant as the beach house was kept well stocked for its once upon a time paying customers.

For Alice the meal was far from enjoyable, this place made her miserable. As if she wasn't reminded enough about her mistakes every time she faced off against the undead, they came here and Alice got to relive the very first one. The very first time she foolishly slept with Spence Parks, led him on, and let him think that he was what she wanted. She thought it would be nice to take Claire here; that the redhead would like it and she did. It was Alice who didn't – who was ashamed to compare the two by bringing her to this charming house. Spence was a rushed, lust-filled desire, but Claire…Claire was so much more.


	9. Mirror

Chapter 9: Mirror

The meal was over, but Alice and Claire were both still sitting at the dinner table, empty china dishes in front of them. The silence was awkward, it was clear that Alice wanted to say something but the words wouldn't come out. Alice was miserable; she didn't want to admit it but she was so in love with Claire. Yes, they didn't exactly leave each other on the best of terms but things were different now. She was human, and it made all the difference in the world…and no difference at all. _Will she ever remember me? Do we just start over?_

The videos spoke more of Alice's guilt then she knew; Claire could see that. She wasn't blind to the torment Alice put herself through. Though she couldn't read the taller woman's subtle movements, she noticed her general demeanor. Alice was upset, but the redhead could only guess as to why. Then Alice yawned, and it was a sign Claire could easily interpret.

"Well, I'm pretty beat…" the redhead offered, she pushed out her chair and rose to her feet.

"Mm," Alice agreed. She got up to take her plate into the kitchen but by then Claire had walked around to her side of the table and retrieved it for her. It was a simple gesture that Alice just read as Claire wanting to be useful, but it made Alice smile anyways.

"I don't know about you, but that king-size bed is calling my name," Claire commented as they walked back to the master bedroom.

"Go for it. I'm going to take the floor," Alice deferred; trying to tell herself that the bed would be too soft compared to what she was used to. She was trying everything to get the thought of sleeping in the same bed as the Claire out of her mind.

"Don't be ridiculous Alice; the bed is plenty big enough for both of us. Besides when's the next time you're going to be able to sleep somewhere this nice?" It was a rhetorical question, the answer more than obvious.

Alice couldn't find any fault in the redhead's logic, though she could tell she wasn't trying very hard to.

"Well, ok." Alice was absolutely smitten with the idea of sleeping in the bed with Claire, though she was terrified of its execution. _What if I hog all the covers…or worse – snore? _Alice was being absurd, she knew. But the redhead made Alice feel things she'd never felt before; she was nervous and excited at the same time, her stomach twisted in knots.

When the extra pillows were tossed to the floor, the covers shaken out, and a pistol placed under Alice's pillow, the two settled beneath the sheets. Though the world around her was silent, Alice was sure that her heartbeat was louder than a passing train.

Time carried on and Alice was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't immediately register that Claire had risen, and was sitting on the edge of the bed away from her. Something was wrong.

"What is it, Claire?"

Claire looked at Alice surprised. "Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to wake you."

Alice sat up and responded. "You didn't, what's wrong?" The taller woman was afraid she was prodding too much, but Claire looked like she needed to be asked.

"I-I remembered something," Claire's voice was uncertain, and Alice could be seen swallowing as the redhead continued. "My parents…died in a car crash when I was young. I remember their funeral, and someone holding my hand the entire time. They wouldn't let go… I didn't want them too…"

Alice's throat was dry, but she said the only thing she could think of. "I'm sorry." She knew it would bring the redhead little comfort, but it needed to be said.

In the dim light Alice could see Claire smile, it was false and forced, but Alice understood. The redhead laid back down on the bed and Alice followed her.

It was late in the night when Claire was awakened by a muffled sound. Her first instinct was to wake up Alice, but then she realized that it was Alice making the noise. She was whimpering, the sheets clutched tightly in her hands, tiny beads of sweat dotted her forehead; and even in her waking phase – it broke Claire's heart.

"Alice," she said softly while gently touching her shoulder to wake her from the nightmare cursing her sleep.

The ex-project jolted awake, Smith and Wesson retrieved and firmly pointed at the door. Alice's breathing was panicked, and it wasn't until she saw Claire's compassionate look that she realized what was going on.

"Oh god," Alice said as she lowered the gun, but didn't put it away. Keeping the cold metal weight in her grip made her feel more secure. "I'm sorry."

"It's ok," the redhead promised, as she confidently brought her hand to Alice's back and rubbed it in slow, soothing motions. The ex-project calmed quickly; the remnants of Alice's nightmare brushed away by Claire's gentle hand.

Alice wasn't comparing Claire to Spence anymore, how could she? They were vastly different; Spence's arrogance – a flaw, Claire's arrogance – endearing. Spence's compassion – nonexistent, Claire's compassion – overwhelming.


	10. Busted

Chapter 10: Busted

When the two woke the next morning there was an ease in the way they handled each other. They shared small smiles and unashamed glances like longtime friends.

After a light breakfast, Alice turned her thoughts to their survival. They had enough fuel to last them to Medford, but she didn't want to be forced to land there. However, she also had the feeling that they would be hard pressed to find airplane fuel in this practically nonexistent town. The ex-project set out her worn map on the dinner table looking for the little plane-silhouettes that marked airports.

The closest airport was in Tillamook, 16 miles from their current position. In the plane it would take them no time at all. Claire appeared over Alice's shoulder and the taller woman pointed to a spot on the map.

"We're going to fly here in about an hour, see if we can refuel."

The redhead nodded a confirmation. "So I was thinking, since we have a little time, can we spar – like before?"

"Um sure," the ex-project was a bit taken back by the request, usually she worked out alone, but perhaps this would become a regular thing. Alice liked the sound of that.

The two squared off on the beach, rolling waves sounding in the background. At first their choreographed fight was light and timid, but just like before they got into a rhythm. Claire was much more confident this time, her skills improved. The ex-project still wasn't going full out, but if she wasn't careful the redhead would do some harm.

It was then that Claire's confidence fell short, and her stubborn will and arrogance kicked in. The redhead was tired of being bested by the taller woman at every turn. So she did as many combos as she could think of, but Alice was impervious to them all.

To Alice, Claire had never looked more adorable than in her frustration. _If she heard me call her adorable I have feeling she'd win this fight, _Alice thought and it caused her to smile; that was – right until Claire punched her in the nose.

It hurt like hell, and she knew the redhead would feel bad, so she milked it for all it was worth by collapsing dramatically to the ground; her hand covering her nose and muffling the noises of pain.

"Oh shit, Alice!" Claire's hands clasped over her mouth in shock of what she had just done, and she immediately regretted letting her anger get the better of her. The redhead watched as Alice fell to the ground and rolled onto her stomach, and it sounded to Claire like she was actually crying. "Oh – I'm sorry!" Claire exclaimed, and Alice turned over in the sand still appearing to be crying.

Once Alice was settled on her back, her fake sobbing was revealed to be barely contained laughter; until Alice realized that Claire was straddling her, with both hands on her cheeks to get a better look at the damaged nose. The weight of Claire, leg on her either side of her aroused Alice incredibly but the redhead seemed oblivious to the way this was making her feel.

"Damn it, Alice, I thought you were hurt!" In truth Claire was relieved that Alice was only pretending. But what she saw in Alice's cobalt eyes next, could not be faked even by the best actor. It was desire and it stirred something deep within her; the arousal spreading through to her extremities. Hands still gently holding Alice's face, and before she could protest, Claire brought her mouth down and connected with Alice's lips in a tender kiss.

Alice couldn't stop herself from responding like she couldn't stop the moon from rising. Claire's tongue begged entry and Alice was at her mercy. It seemed like many breathless minutes had passed when Claire finally pulled away from the kiss but not too far away so that she couldn't do it again. In a whir of motion Alice took hold of the redhead's hands and rolled Claire over. Now Alice was on top of Claire with her hands pinned above her head. The redhead smiled seductively in anticipation of what was to come.

It was everything Alice had wanted, and suddenly everything she feared. The ex-project moved as fast she could, releasing Claire's hands and getting off of her. Leaving the redhead in the sand alone and confused.


	11. Damage Control

Chapter 11: Damage Control

_What the hell just happened? _Alice thought as she walked away. She made it all the way back to her pack and began to search through it for her handheld radio by the time she heard Claire get up to follow. The taller woman pushed a button and turned the knob slowly through the AM stations, listening for anything other than static. _Coward._

"Alice, I know you're scared, and I'm scared too." The redhead didn't need Alice to look at her; she knew that she was being heard. "But this feels right…doesn't it?"

Claire's pleading voice pulled at Alice's heartstrings, so she turned her fear away and then turned to face to the one she loved.

"It does-" was all Alice could get out before the radio came to life.

"_Hello, I am transmitting from the Tillamook Airport. If there is anyone out there, you are more than welcome to join us, we've-_" the man's deep voice cut out and was not repeated as static returned to the foreground.

"Why did it stop?" Claire asked while Alice twisted the knob slowly back and forth to try and get back the station.

"I don't know, but we should go." Alice responded as she turned the radio off and stowed it back in her bag, slinging it over her shoulder.

Claire bit her lip, but Alice smiled and took hold of the redhead's hand, holding it all the way back to the plane.

The feeling in the pit of Alice's stomach was apprehension; it was always that way when she came upon potential survivors. She couldn't think of the last time she'd actually arrived in time to be of any help. Then there was the occasional trap; and it was those kinds of people, the ones that would prey on the weak, that made her disgusted with humanity.

The airport had two paved runways and one was completely cleared of debris, unlike the other that was littered with refueling vehicles, orange cones and barrels, and three small jets. It seemed that the airport's occupants were prepared for landing planes, and that they welcomed it; the uneasiness in Alice's gut grew two fold as she set down the plane and maneuvered it so they could make a quick takeoff if need be.

As Alice threw back the windshield Claire said stubbornly, "I'm not staying behind."

Alice's mouth curled up in a light smile, "I wasn't going to tell you too." The taller woman offered Claire a hand down from the red plane's wing and she took it. After that, the ex-project was all business as she un-holstered both of her Smith and Wessons.

"Alice, when do I get a gun?"

Apparently Alice wasn't the only one worried, "When I know you can use one. And besides you don't even have your knife back, so let's just take this one step at a time."

Claire released a heavy, disappointment-filled breath as the two walked into the airport from a security entrance. Again the cleanliness of the place, the smell of bleach, the organization chairs, broken pedestals, and tables into makeshift barriers tripped the ex-project's alarm. Someone had been here and recently.

They walked around the barricade and down by the luggage pickup was another manmade defense, this time splattered with tiny amounts of dark liquid. Had Alice not been looking for it she wouldn't have seen it, she also wouldn't have caught the practically nonexistent trail of the same liquid leading northwest away from the obstruction and towards a closed door.

Claire followed Alice's gaze to the path they were on. "Is that?"

_Blood; if it is – it's been dry for hours, maybe a day, _Alice thought.

"Most likely."

Finally Alice and Claire came upon the shut door. The ex-project paused to listen at it…there she heard it, a muffled whimper. Not willing to put away one of her pistols, she backed up and kicked open the door.

In the room was a burly man holding a gleaming silver handgun to a child's head, while a woman was sobbing next to the young boy. Claire gasped in horror.

"STOP!" Alice demanded; training both of her pistols on the man, ready to put two bullets in the man's head with the slightest pressure. When he looked up at the strangers and away from the brunette haired boy, Alice could see an emptiness to his eyes.

"You shouldn't be here," he said gravely.


	12. The Suicides

Chapter 12: The Suicides

"You shouldn't be here," the man's voice was deep and full of tenor.

The ex-project noted that it was the same voice from the transmission. The broad-shouldered man lowered his gun from the boy's temple, and Alice and Claire were both able to take a shaky breath.

This time when the man spoke Alice could tell his voice was close to breaking. "You sh-shouldn't be here, you need to-to leave." The woman with dark circles under her eyes glanced up at Alice and Claire quickly, and then turned her attention back to the little boy pulling him into a desperate embrace; her weeping amplified.

Alice really looked at the group, and suddenly their situation became clear. They were a family; a husband and wife, and their young son. _All bitten, _Alice thought. The tall man had flesh peeling off of his neck, the woman's hands were covered in bites, and the child, only eight or so, had a bloody piece of cloth wrapped around his ankle.

"Wait – just wait," Alice pleaded softly this time.

The pale man seemed to get some of his composure back and replied with coolness. "Let's talk outside."

Alice let the man cross through the doorway first and she noticed that the back of his shirt was stained with circular patterns of blood; Claire was next out, then Alice who sealed the wooden door as she left.

"What happened?" Alice asked and patiently waited for the answer.

The man placed his pistol in his waistband, but Alice only holstered one of hers, the other held calmly at her side.

"Yesterday we were attacked by a horde, about 20 in size or so." The husband fiddled with the cuffs of his green flannel shirt. "My wife and son were playing outside when they ran in suddenly, my wife told me they were being followed…and the next thing I knew we were overrun. We held them back over there," he pointed to the barrack by the luggage rack. "But there was too many of them, they went after my boy." At this the man's eyes teared up, "I tried my best to shield him."

_The blood stains on his back, _Alice thought.

"My wife pulled a few of those monsters off me, and got our son to safety."

_The bite marks on the woman's hands._

"But it was too late, he was already bitten…"

_The child…_

By now Claire was crying silently, but somehow Alice was still keeping it together.

The father finished his story quickly, "I killed the rest – you'd be surprised what a dead man can do," at that he laughed falsely. "We burned the bodies, cleaned up a bit, and spent our last hours together. So now you know why…"

_Why you put the gun to your little boy's head, _Alice finished for him.

Claire spoke up dramatically. "There has to be something – something we can do!" The redhead was close to hysterical.

The man responded to the compassion as gently as he could. "It's too late for us; you two should be on your way, there's nothing you can do."

"Yes, there is. There is something I can do," Alice responded. Claire looked to Alice, hopeful. But the man shook his head.

"I can't ask you to do that," he said.

"You don't have to," Alice said firmly.

Claire was confused and it wasn't until Alice's next statement that she understood.

"I'll give you time to say goodbye."

The husband nodded, and spoke his thanks. "If there's anything you need, just take it. I am truly grateful." Then he walked back into the room, shutting the door behind him.

"Alice, there has to be another way!" The redhead exclaimed.

"There isn't," the taller woman was cold in her reply, she had to be. Alice brought up her pistol and checked the cylinder to make sure it was fully loaded. There could be no mistakes; Alice promised herself there wouldn't be.

Claire tried one more time to beg for the family's lives while looking into Alice's clouded-over eyes, "Don't do this." But then the door opened and Alice was already walking towards it, gun in hand.

The last thing Alice said to Claire was harsh, and commanding to the point that the she knew the redhead would obey.

"Stay here."

Alice walked back through the doorway, then shut and locked the door from the inside. She turned around and found the family in a final embrace, whispering words of I love you. The husband and wife shared a familiar kiss, before they both chastely kissed their son and took hold of each of his hands. Then the boy made eye contact with Alice, he looked right through her and she saw his fear.

The child was turned away from Alice as his mother said in a comforting tone, "Look at me, honey." Finally the husband nodded to Alice and he looked back at his son, a regretful smile on his face.

Alice lifted her gun and aimed it steadily at the brunette haired boy.

"I love you, son," was the father's last pronouncement.

The ex-project expelled three shots in quick procession, the sound was more than deafening. She couldn't hear the family fall to the floor one by one. First the boy; then the mother; then the father. Their blood collected into one liquid mass, its red growth engulfing the gold metal bullet-casings and creeping ever towards Alice's booted feet.

Alice brought the pistol to her head; she could feel the heat from the recently used barrel on her temple. An image of the little boy's brown eyes seared into her soul. She shut her own eyes and imagined how easy it would be. The ex-project had been pulling triggers for years; this would be no different. A previous thing she had said wafted back into her thoughts, _I'll give you time to say goodbye. _Then through the door she heard a voice speak softly.

"Alice."

Claire, arms wrapped tightly around herself on the other side of the closed door, visibly recoiled at every gunshot until she counted three. A minute passed and she tried to speak, to call out Alice's name but she struggled to form the syllables. What she finally managed to say was barely a whisper and a shaky one at that.

"Alice."

A fourth and final gunshot rang out.

"Alice!" Claire sprinted the few feet to the door and twisted the handle with all her might. She screamed again, absolutely terrified, "ALICE!"

* * *

**Don't kill me...and please review.**


	13. No Time to Say Goodbye

Chapter 13: No Time to Say Goodbye

"ALICE!" Claire was panicking and pounding her fists on the door. Finally she remembered Alice kicking it in, and took a step back following the taller woman's motions to the letter. The wooden door broke at the lock and before it could smack against the other side of the wall Claire was in the room. She was instantly struck with the smell of copper and gunpowder, but she didn't care about smell she needed to see – needed to see that Alice was still alive.

Before the redhead, were three bodies that rested exactly as they had fallen. A few feet away stood Alice back turned to her, pistol still in hand and head down, but she didn't seem to be breathing. The redhead was quickly at her side, taking the gun from Alice's practically limp hand and replacing it with her own. She squeezed the icy hand tightly while trying to get the older woman's attention.

"Alice, look at me – come on," Claire begged.

Alice didn't even register that her pistol was gone, and it wasn't until she felt a hand on her face that she realized her eyes were still closed. At first she thought the touch was from the young boy, but that was impossible. She opened her eyes to see Claire's worried face, and Alice finally took a breath.

At the sight of the redhead's smile of unreserved relief Alice broke out into a fit of nonsense words, "The boy… You said goodbye – I wasn't given… You said… No time – I wanted-"

"Alice stop, you're not making any sense." The taller woman was in shock and it was obvious to Claire that she needed to get out of this grisly room, like the redhead had needed to get out of that garage. Claire took hold of Alice's hand again and led her easily to the door, but she put up resistance before going any further.

"We can't just leave them…behind," Alice argued.

"We aren't going to," the redhead responded and it was good enough for Alice, so again they made their way out.

When they emerged into the shining sunlight, Alice titled her face to warmth and her knees buckled. Claire dropped the gun in the grass to catch the falling woman; the redhead didn't try to keep Alice standing, only to keep her from falling completely. Claire cradled Alice and was surprised to find that the woman wasn't broken before her. She'd expected Alice to cry, to scream, to do…something; her complete non-reaction was troubling.

"It's ok to cry, Alice."

Alice lightly shook her head, and spoke in near monotone with not an ounce of feeling to her words, "No, no it's not. I don't deserve to be comforted, I don't deserve to be alive…I don't deserve you. All of this is my fault, don't you see?" Even her question sounded like a statement.

Claire wasn't sure how to get thought to her, so she did what she does best, she got angry. "I don't believe you. You didn't create the T-virus, and you didn't release it either!" The redhead looked into Alice's eyes. "What about me, huh? I care about you, more than you know…" Claire's furious expression went back to somber. "What if you had killed yourself, just then?" Even though she was still holding Alice, Claire began to quiver. "What would I have done?" The redhead's throat was too dry, she couldn't continue, so instead she tried to quell her shaking and instill some kind of composure.

"I-I'm sorry," Alice looked away from the redhead as tears formed in her eyes, they burned and stung causing her eyes to water even more. Her throat constricted as the tears cooled a path down her hot face, falling steadily off her chin. Alice struggled to take a breath; she coiled her hands into fists and her nails dug into her palms; the pain it caused enabled her to breathe while her body heaved and trembled with sobs.

Here was the reaction Claire was looking for; she only hoped that she was a strong enough rock for Alice as wave after wave of brutal emotion ripped through her.

Alice reached her arms around Claire's body fiercely holding her against her, afraid to let go and the redhead returned the grip just as forcefully. It seemed like an eternity had passed by the time Alice's crying mellowed out enough to get her thoughts in order.

_I don't care what you say – I still don't deserve you. You are so perfect, Claire,_ Alice thought as she slowly lessoned her grip on the younger woman.

With Alice's lightening hold, Claire reasoned that it was ok for her to do so as well. She brought one arm up to run her fingers through the woman's brown hair, as Alice sighed emotionally exhausted. The taller woman wanted nothing more than to fall asleep exactly as she was, with Claire there to watch over her, but the ex-project's instincts for survival awoke from their previous dormancy. It wasn't safe to sleep out here in the open, especially considering this airport's history.

There were things that needed to be done; the family needed to be buried, the plane needed to be refueled, but the only thing Alice cared about doing – that needed to be done right now before all else – was kissing Claire. Alice placed one hand on Claire's shoulder, the other on the back of her neck and brought their lips together in a kiss full of hunger and need. Claire needed to show Alice that she was cared about, and Alice hungered know it.


	14. The Fourth

Chapter 14: The Fourth

"What happened to your hand?" Alice asked tensely as she examined the bloody cut on the redhead's knuckle while they rested in the grass next to the asphalt runway.

"It's nothing. I just nicked it on the door," Claire assured her, the wound was just the result of Claire's mad dash to get to Alice, but the look on brunette's face was still one of anxiety.

"It's never 'nothing' – did you get _any _of their blood on you?"

"No, I don't think so."

Alice's relief was obvious, but the open wound was still a danger; the taller woman quickly rose to her feet and pulled Claire up by her scraped hand.

"Come on, there are bandages in the plane."

As Alice wrapped Claire's knuckles with unsteady motions, she noted that her pistol was tucked in the redhead's waistband.

"I'll take that back," the ex-project reached for her Smith and Wesson, but Claire was hesitant to turn it over. She couldn't deny Alice her deadly weapon but maybe she could still get some use out of it.

"I'll trade you for it. My knife, please." Claire held out her newly bandaged hand expectantly.

The ex-project narrowed her eyes. _Why am I being so aggressive? _she questioned. Alice couldn't find any reason not to return the blade, but then she realized that keeping it was a form of control, and keeping Claire mostly defenseless meant that the redhead relied on Alice for protection. _But I may not always be there to keep her safe, _Alice thought, and her previous actions in the airport confirmed that.

The taller woman undid her brown leather belt and pulled off the sheath, knife inside and gave it to the redhead. In turn she was granted her revolver and with a practiced hand used the cylinder release to unlock the access to the bullet chambers; she replaced the four missing cartridges, reset the cylinder, and placed gun back in her right-handed holster where it belonged. It was time to get back to business.

"I need to take care of the bodies, refuel the plane, and then we're out of here," Alice said with determination.

The two woman spent the next couple of hours digging up hard earth after deciding on one mass grave, so the family could remain together even in death.

In the room the smell of burnt gunpowder was easily masked by the stench of casualties, but the ex-project was so used to it that she didn't give pause. She'd found wool blankets in a storeroom and crouched down to wrap the dead boy in one, careful not to get any of his coagulated blood on her. The taller woman had made Claire wait outside the room; she refused to let the redhead come near the infected bodies and Claire was far from happy with that ruling, but it was a chance Alice couldn't take. One open wound on Claire – one drop of tainted blood in it… and Alice was confident that next time she wouldn't miss.

Remembering the final shot, the one that almost took her life, Alice looked to the wall on her left… and there it was, the tiny, black hole made by a mere three pounds of pressure. The ex-project imagined the spatter of blood that should have painted the wall red, _and that's the way it would've been if Claire hadn't called my name…_

Alice picked up the cooling body, thankful that rigor mortis had not yet set in. Her muscles flexed with the dead weight; there was something so sickening about handling corpses, it unsettled Alice on her deepest level.

The family was set to rest in the grave in the same succession of their death; child, mother on the right, father on the left. As the last shovel of dirt was set into place a steady spring of tears poured from Alice's eyes, but this time she wept silently while moving on to build the crosses. Claire watched the construction from a distance; she could tell that this was something the older woman wanted to do on her own.

The redhead was cleaning her nails with her reacquired knife when a feeling of worry surfaced in the pit of her stomach; she looked up to check on Alice. The brunette was still cutting away, sharpening one of the ends of a cross destined for the dirt. Claire chalked up her uneasiness to paranoia, until she counted the finished crosses at Alice's feet. The younger woman made a direct path to her and rested a hand on her shoulder to get her attention.

"Alice, why are you making a fourth cross?"

The taller woman was completely absorbed in her task and her reply was proof of that. "What?" Alice looked at the crosses by her feet, and then to the most simple of which that was in her hand; the lack of care in its creation was plain. "I don't know." _What is wrong with me? I'm becoming too complacent, _Alice thought as she discarded that cross and picked up the other three ready to deposit them in the ground.

The purpose of the fourth cross was more than apparent to Claire, it was for Alice herself. The imagery of a fourth cross, poorly crafted and accenting a separate mound of disturbed earth made the redhead shudder. Claire wasn't sure how much more of this she could take; she would do anything for Alice, so it killed her to see the taller woman in so much pain.

With all three crosses struck into the willing soil, and with no words said, the brunette acknowledged the fallen family's sacrifice. Alice thought it ironic that she was the one who caught the man's final transmission right before he turned it off, so he could put an end to his family's lives. Ironic that Alice herself would be the one to physically kill those who were already 'dead' by her failure. _If there is a god… He is cruel, _Alice thought, then she turned to look at Claire standing quietly by her side. She gently squeezed the redhead's warm hand, and felt a solid squeeze in return. _If there is a god, then He's given me the best chance in the world for redemption._


	15. The Swim

Chapter 15: The Swim

_How long as it been since I could just collapse into someone arms, unafraid and unashamed? _Alice sighed. _Never. I don't think I've ever been able to do that, _she thought.

The two women were back at the beach house after the redhead convinced Alice to stay another night. The taller woman caved easily to Claire's request; she was finding it harder and harder to deny the younger woman anything, but secretly she was thankful the redhead asked. The ex-project almost never spent more than one night in the same place, but Alice needed some time to recover from the trauma of the airport; a little rest to put back up the defenses, to rebuild her steady resolve, and to just breathe. If that also meant spending more time in a beautiful place with the younger woman – well then, Alice was ok with that.

The building no longer haunted her like before; Spence was a part of the past, but Claire was her 'here and now,' and if she let herself she could almost imagine that this house was just a piece of their life together. She could see them sitting down to dinner every night at the table, both laughing at some ridiculous comment the redhead had just made. She could picture herself coming home from work with Claire waiting restlessly for her to walk through the door so she could tackle the brunette, because they'd been apart for too long. _Why am I assuming that Claire would want to be a stay at home…stay at home wife? _The words 'Claire' and 'wife' made Alice smile. _Maybe she'd run a shelter for homeless teenagers, or be a teacher, _Alice struggled to visualize the redhead having enough patience to deal with rowdy children. _She could be a stripper for all I care,_ she thought and laughed quietly to herself, but Claire overheard anyways.

"What are you laughing at? And why are you looking at me while you do it?" Claire jibbed, catching the older woman's infectiously-good mood.

"No reason," Alice was not about to tell the redhead that she'd just imagined her in a more than skimpy outfit, and dancing in a more than provocative way.

"Right, like I'm supposed to believe that." The younger woman spoke sarcastically.

The brunette watched Claire's face go from curious to joyful and she couldn't help but question if the redhead had ever wondered the same thing she was. _What would it be like to have a life with you Claire? _Then she realized that they'll never have their dream jobs, or dream house, or dream life, but they could still be together. _If she'd have me._

In typical Claire fashion, the redhead rose from the dark leather couch in a fluid motion, and then proceeded to throw Alice for a loop.

"Well I'm going to go for a swim," the younger woman said as she strutted to the front door.

"What? Where?" Alice asked and in her rush to catch up to Claire, got up from the couch less then elegantly.

"In the ocean, where else?" Claire turned her head and perked an eyebrow.

"That water's freezing!" Alice stated in disbelief.

"Oh, I think I can handle it," the redhead said arrogantly. "The question is – can you?"

The brunette wasn't so sure if she liked the younger woman turning the tables on her by provoking her into a challenge. Not to mention going for a swim wasn't entirely safe. The taller woman looked into her companion's superior stare; Alice's pride rarely made an appearance, but for the redhead she would make an exception.

"I don't have a change of clothes, considering _someone _is wearing my other set," Alice referenced the redheads current outfit, but she just shrugged noncommittally.

"So swim naked," the younger woman said with complete seriousness as the taller woman's jaw dropped slightly open. The redhead followed up by opening and walking through the front door without giving Alice a second glance.

_She thinks there's no way in Hell I'll do it, _the brunette thought as she quickly recovered from her surprised response with a vengeance; her brow furrowed in resolution, _well she'll see. _ Alice took off after the redhead, and was hot on her heels all the way to the sandy beach, where the cold waters swirled eagerly.

Claire pulled off her boots in a flurry of motion and made for the water like a fish, without trepidation or restraint.

Alice watched all this activity while undressing; she meticulously pulled off each armguard, her gun holsters and vest, and set them ceremoniously into the sand. Next to do was unlace and remove her boots, by now the redhead had reached the point in her swim where she felt it necessary to see what Alice was doing. Claire's eyes widened. She really hadn't thought the taller woman would do it, but there she was front to Claire, pulling the shirt of her back.

The ex-project didn't like the idea of being anywhere totally unarmed, so she held on to her combat knife, still sheathed and ready to fasten on when she was prepared to do so. She noticed Claire treading water about fifteen yards out, a stiffness to her motions more than likely from the chill of the water. For a second the brunette reconsidered, not because swimming in the cold ocean was dangerous, but because she was anxious of how Claire would react to her scarred back. The firey crash with Wesker into the hillside had left its mark. Specifically, a pink abrasion that at its widest was two inches and ran all the way down from her right shoulder, past the center of her spine, and continued until it reached around to the side of her left hip. _She won't care,_ Alice tried to convince herself and put on a brave face.

Completely naked save for one lonely sheath, knife in place, secured around her upper thigh by a worn leather strap, Alice approached the water with the grace of a cat and Claire licked her lips involuntarily, tasting more than salt. The taller woman's nipples were already erect, but the second she placed a toe in the water her skin broke out into goose-bumps. _My god, that woman is insane,_ Alice thought in reaction to the icy liquid, _making me do this. Well here goes nothing._ When she was deep enough into the water Alice dove beneath the breaking waves and swam her way to the redhead.

The brunette surfaced next to the shorter woman, an accomplished smirk on her face.

"I ca-can't believe you ac-actually did it!" Claire exclaimed, her teeth chattering. "We c-can go in now," the younger woman began to ease her way to shore seeing if the taller woman would follow.

"What? But I just got out here!" Alice laughed at the redhead's eagerness to depart the water, but she was just as happy to be leaving.

They swam in and Alice was careful to keep Claire's lead generous. She was delaying the inevitable, but she wasn't quite ready for the redhead to see her ugly scar.

As they stepped onto the beach the redhead said in astonishment, "You didn't bring any towels?"

"You didn't either," Alice replied with a chuckle.

The shivering and drenched younger woman didn't take the time to put on her boots; she just scooped them up in one hand and walked swiftly to the beach house. Alice was still smiling behind her and dressing in just the basics, before running to catch up with the shorter woman. Her clothes would be a little damp and she'd be a little cold, but that wasn't anything sitting beside Claire in front of a roaring fire couldn't fix, and that was exactly what Alice planned on doing the second they got inside.


	16. Slow Burn

Chapter 16: Slow Burn

A sudden strong gust of wind made Alice rock on her feet as she walked outside of the house in search of the small woodshed she knew was on the south wall. When she got there, she considered it a stroke of luck that the last tenants had left a liberal source of cut and stacked wood covered beneath a small awning to protect it from the elements. Some of the pieces on the ground were rotted through, but the stuff on top would burn more than willingly. She collected the densest pieces she could find and some smaller kindling, careful that wood in her arms didn't catch on the butt of her gun. The ex-project hadn't put back on her strap-lined vest, armguards, or her four gun holster, but she didn't feel right without the leather casings and the precious metal they contained so she kept on a single holster around her waist. She looked to the sky one last time before she entered the house; it had been overcast all day, but now the clouds were tinted green and amassing in what was sure to be one hell of a storm.

In a single armload she managed to carry four pieces of wood about the size of her forearm, some small sticks, and three monster logs that would hopefully last them a few hours. As Alice approached the master bedroom she gently pushed the open the slightly-ajar door with her shoulder. The room was illuminated with the failing light of the evening, and it casted soft highlights on everything in the room, including the redhead who was standing in front of a large window her backside to Alice. Claire's wet clothes were in a pile on the floor and she was dressed in only her old cami and black underwear; her dark, damp hair cascaded around her face as she reached over to the bed to grab her grey pants. The younger woman's silhouette pronounced by the coming storm behind her, made Alice stop in her tracks.

The taller woman's steps had been masked by the howling wind outside, so the redhead didn't hear her and continued to dress. She put a foot in each pant hole and steadily pulled the pants past her toned caves and thighs. Alice leaned to the side to get a little better view, but then was forced to collect herself when the redhead buttoned her pants and began to turn around. Suddenly one of the heavier logs shifted precariously in taller woman's arms and she overcompensated. Gravity won out as the piece of firewood fell on her foot. Usually her boots could withstand a significant amount of pressure put upon them, but this kind of direct hit translated into a massive amount of force right on her big toe. The crash it made caused Claire to turn around in surprise.

"Ow, FUCK!" The taller woman cursed with enough vigor to impress a sailor.

"Alice! I didn't even know you were there – are you ok?" The redhead grimaced in sympathy as the brunette cringed in pain while taking careful steps to the fireplace determined not to lose anymore wood.

Claire picked up the fallen log, noting that while it wasn't huge it easily weighed a good ten pounds. She walked it over to the stone hearth and Alice looked at it offensively. The brunette set up the wood in the most flame conducive position there could be, and then checked to make sure the damper was open. She considered for a second that the flue could be clogged with dangerous creosote, but with the care put into the rest of the place, she doubted that the chimney wouldn't have received the same dedicated attention. Just to be safe she brought out an old case of matches from her pack and lit one, holding it in the fireplace to check the draft. It passed inspection so she grabbed her flint and steel, a much more reliable source of heat because matches were hard to come by and used only when an immediate flame was necessary.

With a few loud strikes of flint on steel, several sparks flew onto the kindling and a light trail of smoke rose as a section of shredded bark glowed orange. With Alice's oxidizing breath, a flame jumped to life and swallowed the dry kindling. The next offering for the flames burned hot, just as Alice knew the dense logs would.

"I should get a few more loads of wood, are you ok here?" Alice questioned, knowing that the redhead would want to stay behind and enjoy the new source of heat.

"Now that you've got a fire started I'm perfect," Claire said animatedly.

The wind was really starting to pick up as Alice went back to the woodshed; she looked up at the chimney and sure enough smoke was coming from it, but being dissipated by wind so quickly that she knew no living or unliving thing would be able notice their presence.

The next time she went outside she could smell the distinct scent of impending rain. But it wasn't until her fourth trip to the woodpile that she realized she was stalling, again. Alice sighed, and spoke out-loud to herself as the wind tossed the cresting waves in the distance.

"You say you want to be near her, but when you get the chance – you run… What is wrong with me?" The brunette sighed and collected more wood anyways, but was determined to not leave the house again.

Alice reentered the master bedroom and the redhead greeted her.

"Hey there, I was beginning to wonder if you were just going to stay outside all night."

The taller woman stacked the final pieces she'd gathered on the already ample pile, but she couldn't decide how to respond so she didn't say anything. She checked the wood in the fire then turned around trying to figure out if she should sit next to the younger woman or not.

"Come here, you have a leaf in your hair," Claire said as she smiled affectionately and patted the floor next to her.

Her decision made for her, Alice sat legs crossed as the redhead plucked a dry leaf with her re-bandaged hand, the first having to be taken off after the swim. She twirled the leaf in her fingers and held it out to show the brunette.

"See? Told ya."

"Thanks," Alice muttered sheepishly and she turned her face back to the warmth of the fire. It seeped into her skin and chased away the remaining chill from the icy swim.

Suddenly the constant bay of wind hounding the structure stopped; the ex-project put a hand on her revolver and even Claire seemed to still beside her. A few tense seconds passed until an explosion of sound shook the house, before the accompanying lighting could even flash, Claire jumped into the brunette's arms. The room lit up; the white canceled out the orange glow of the fire for an instant as the wind redoubled its efforts to blow the building off its foundation, and the sky opened up to a torrent of heavy rain.

The first clap of thunder was not to be followed by any others like it; the storm was quickly moving away, taking with it the rain and breathing wind, leaving only the occasional bursts of light and growls of thunder. During all of this Claire remained settled against Alice; the brunette had both arms wrapped around Claire's waist while their fingers were entwined in the redhead's lap. It was such an intimate position; the taller woman could feel the younger woman breathe with her as Claire's edginess from the storm passed.

"You ok?" Alice questioned as she kissed the top of the younger woman's head.

Claire nodded slightly; she had calmed since her scare, with the brunette's help. Her stomach fluttered as the older woman ran her thumbs over the redhead's hands. With the fire in front of her and Alice's body heat on her back, she was more than warm; she was burning. Claire thought back to their first kiss on the beach and the second one at the airport; the first hadn't lasted long enough and the second was born of pain, but both drove her to desire a third. The redhead leaned slightly out of Alice's embrace and turned her head to capture the brunette's lips. The older woman, while a little caught off guard, was quick to reciprocate. Claire's butterflies resurfaced as Alice brought one hand to cup the redhead's face and deepened the kiss. Alice's tongue danced over the redhead's teeth. They continued to kiss over Claire's shoulder for the better part of a minute until their breathing was ragged and their skin flushed.

The redhead's heart was pounding in her ears as she suspended the kiss, but she was nowhere near ready to stop. Without breaking eye contact she turned out of the brunette's hold, got to her knees, and settled onto Alice's lap.

The taller woman felt both of Claire's hands on her cheeks as she took possession of her mouth. Alice held the redhead tightly against her. Their passion increased with every heated second of pleasure.

The younger woman was ready for more; she needed to feel Alice's skin so she brought her hand to Alice's left hip and pushed it up beneath her shirt. The brunette gasped as the redhead's hand explored her abs. The wandering contact found its way up Alice's ribs to the outer edge of her cloth-covered breast. Claire was enjoying the teasing immensely and just as she was about to graze Alice's nipple with her fingertips, she curved her hand around to the brunette's back, and brushed over a few raised sections of skin; her movements stilled.

Alice broke the kiss immediately; her back arching as she tried to shy away from the touch, but Claire's hand moved again following the scar from the hip all the way up to her shoulder. Multiple, smaller-parallel scars were littered around the edges of the larger one.

"What happened to your back?" The redhead asked concerned, noticing instantly the change in the older woman's mood.

"Burn."

"You were burned? What happened?" Again the younger woman's voice showed interest in her companion's wellbeing.

"A crash."

"Alice, why are you being so evasive?" Claire looked into her companions blue eyes for an answer, but she found none because Alice tore her gaze away.

The brunette considered her response; in truth it was because the first time they'd met Alice's form had been perfect, not only did the T-virus heal the ex-project's wounds quickly, it also kept an unreal vitality to the blood in her veins and a glow to her flawless skin. She wanted to be perfect for Claire. But her scar was not only an ugly flaw, it was a weakness. Had she not failed to kill Wesker, she would have worn it with pride; a mark to forever brand her debt to humanity as paid. But Wesker got up and walked away, leaving her to die.

"I was confronting the man responsible for Umbrella; we were both in a helicopter when he beat me in a fight. He was going to kill me, but with no one at the controls we crashed into a hillside. I woke to burning debris surrounding me, and a heavy strip of metal was on top of my back; I thought it was just holding me down. I didn't realize until later that it actually burned me. I forced it off and I could feel the blood running down my back as I stood, but I couldn't feel any pain."

Claire ran her fingertips up and down the center of the scar in sympathy of Alice's narration.

"Where your fingers are right now – I can't feel them." The redhead considered stopping her motions, but decided that even though it couldn't be soothing for Alice, it was soothing for her.

"Well that explains how you got it, but not why you were being evasive."

"Nothing get's past you does it?" The older woman chuckled.

"No, so spill." The redhead smiled reassuringly and Alice decided to just come out with it for once, and was rewarded for her efforts.

"I want to be perfect for you Claire."

The younger woman smirked surprisingly. "Who's says you aren't?" she responded and sealed it with a kiss.

There was nothing holding Alice back now; she loved Claire and tonight she would show her just how much.

They both were overcome by a passionate frenzy; they were close but they needed to be closer. The breaking of the kiss was mutual this time, because each wanted the shirt of the other's back. Alice pulled off Claire's cami revealing a black fitted-bra, and the redhead lifted Alice's shirt over her head then pulled off the cloth bra beneath it. The brunette worked the clasp undone on the younger woman's bra, and Claire slipped her arms out of it as Alice's lips started at her neck and worked their way down to the rise of her breasts. The redhead arched her head back, willing Alice's attention lower. The taller woman drew ever closer to her nipple, and Claire bit her lip in anticipation. She took the redhead's pink nipple into her mouth and it hardened with a flick of her tongue. The brunette ran a hand up the inside of her thigh and Claire moaned. If Alice wasn't careful, she would be taking Claire right here on the floor and that just wouldn't do, not when there was a perfectly good bed that could be put to use.

The brunette stopped her assault on the redhead's nipple, and put both of her hands beneath Claire's firm ass. She got the message, lifting herself to her knees; from there Alice undid the younger woman's belt and unbuttoned her pants. Not to be outdone, Claire took the brunette's hand and pulled her up, as they rose she used the other hand to unbuckle Alice's single gun holster. The ex-project heard her revolver fall to the floor as Claire went to claim her mouth. Both of them took off their pants and made it to bed without losing some kind of physical contact with the other.

Claire was on the bed first, with Alice on top of her. Anywhere skin touched skin it intoxicated the brunette, and she could feel her own wet arousal soaking through her underwear. One of her hands left a trail of fire all the way down Claire's stomach to the edge of her underwear; the taller woman roped a finger through it and easily slid them off. Alice was momentarily distracted by the sight of Claire's wet curls, and the redhead rolled the brunette on her back. The younger woman kissed her way to one of Alice's nipples while she rubbed the other between her fingers and her free hand settled on the inside of Alice's naked thigh. The brunette was turned to jello with each and every touch, but letting Claire have her first was not the plan. The ex-project used a maneuver left over from her combat training days to gain the advantage; suddenly Alice was back on top, the redhead's hands pinned above her.

The brunette was struck with a feeling of déjà vu, but instead of running like she did on the beach she set to torture the redhead until she couldn't take anymore. As her mouth worked hungrily on Claire's breasts, Alice slid her thigh between the younger woman's legs and pressed it to her damp center, eliciting a sensual moan. The brunette taunted her by giving the Claire the pressure she desired, then holding back until the redhead tried to push herself back onto Alice's thigh. The redhead was quickly becoming flustered and struggled against Alice's hold. The brunette stopped massaging the redhead's nipple with her tongue and looked into Claire's green eyes. The younger woman stared back.

"I need you, Alice," the redhead pleaded, her breath ragged.

It was a declaration the brunette could not deny; she replaced her thigh with her hand and lightly teased the edges of Claire's opening. Alice released the younger woman's hands so she could be in a better position to satisfy Claire's desire. The redhead used both of her free hands to hold Alice's mouth to hers. The brunette pushed two of her fingers into Claire's folds, wetting them for what was going to come.

"Oh-god, don't stop."

Alice played with Claire's clit, increasing momentum until the redhead brought up her own thigh onto the brunette's wet core. The wave of ecstasy the friction created radiated through Alice's body and she began to create more. The two easily fell into a rhythm, pleasure increasing with every movement. As the pair neared climax Alice rubbed Claire's clit with her thumb, and at the right moment thrust her fingers deep into the redhead's opening.

"Alice!" Claire cried out as their pleasure came to a peak, and they rode out the orgasms together.

Completely spent, Alice practically collapsed onto the redhead; her quivering muscles couldn't hold her any longer and she set herself down. The brunette laid out on her back and Claire moved to lay in her arms, her head resting on Alice's scared shoulder as she draped an arm across the older woman's stomach and similarly entwined their legs. Alice could tell she was grinning like a fool, but she couldn't help it. She used her free hand to brush away a lock of hair that had fallen over Claire's face and the redhead opened her mouth to speak, but shut it when she saw how much Alice was smiling. The redhead smiled too and closed her eyes in contentment.

It didn't take the younger woman long to fall asleep. When Alice was certain she wouldn't wake, she extricated herself from Claire's arms, and got up to retrieve her revolver and stoke the fire. The brunette felt so happy, but it was tainted – diseased with thoughts of fear and doubt. Alice struggled to push them away; she just needed to get back in bed with the redhead. Claire could fight these demons hell-bent on self-destruction. But it was a habit of hers; when things were going too good for Alice, she would always manage to sabotage it.

In a way she was worse than Umbrella; the Corporation was at least somewhat see-through in their destructive intentions, yet somehow Alice's best intentions caused more damage. She failed to keep the T-virus out of the wrong hands, failed to create a true cure, failed to take Umbrella down, and she failed Claire and her convoy with false promises of safety. It all accumulated to a slow burn.


	17. Dauntless

**Disclaimer: I own nothing...anyone else notice that it seems to be a common theme on this site...one of these days, someone is actually going to own something.**

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Chapter 17: Dauntless

For the first time in a long time, the sun rose before Alice did. She even woke with a bit of start before she realized what was going on, but Claire laying naked beside her told her all she needed to know. They had to get moving; they were already a day behind the brunette's schedule, so Alice woke the redhead with a kiss.

"Good morning," Claire greeted with a smile.

"A little past I'm afraid," the brunette said as she got up from the bed and started to gather her things. The redhead sat up on her elbows a little confused.

"Someone's in a bit of a rush I see."

Alice responded with a noncommittal noise, and the furrow in Claire's eyebrows deepened, until she figured out what the brunette was doing. She was putting distance between them; Claire was tired of the mixed signals and the games. Alice would give an inch, then revert a mile. She'd only wanted to wake up in Alice's arms; spend some time with her without worry of the future, because no matter what – they'd be together to meet it. It was not to be.

"You coming?" Alice was already completely dressed, and it spurned Claire to want to say no. She knew the brunette wouldn't leave without her, but she would fire with fire. If Alice wanted distance, distance she would get.

They were in the plane flying south, when Alice turned on her camera to record another video log. "May 6th 1150 hours, leaving Rockaway Beach headed for Medford, San Francisco, then refueling a little past Los Angeles." She switched off the device and then glanced behind her; Claire was looking out the window seemingly oblivious to her gaze.

Hours passed but it felt like they stretched endlessly. The brunette looked at her watch for the time after checking it only half a minute ago. Claire hadn't said a word since they'd left and Alice was beginning to worry.

"Did I do something wrong?"

"No," the redhead said without pulling away her focus from the passing landscape beneath them, and Alice sighed. The bland response was wreaking havoc on her thoughts, but the brunette couldn't figure it out.

_She said no, but then why won't she even look at me?_

It was nearly 1800 hours when Los Angeles appeared on the horizon, stacks of black smoke poured from the city. Big cities were always so prone to burning, and with the buildings practically stacked up on top of each other it was no surprise to see half the city demolished.

"City of Angels," Alice said morbidly to herself. Structure after structure had broken windows, charred walls, and the occasional splatter of old blood. There wasn't a single undead to be found until they neared the center of the city, where they gathered like flies on road-kill around a concrete complex. "I don't believe it."

"What?"

"Over there," the brunette motioned out the windshield to a building with the words **HELP US** written on the roof in some kind of white substance, and the redhead saw a handful of survivors trying to get their attention. Alice banked the plane to fly around the building. "No way we're getting in there." The prison was surrounded by thousands of the undead all clambering for the meals waiting inside. Claire could see the wheels turn in the brunette's head with reckless abandon.

"You aren't seriously thinking about landing, are you?"

The taller woman turned the plane again and headed straight for the roof of the building to do a low flyover. The survivors on top got the message, and prepped the area for her touchdown.

"This may get a little rough," Alice said rolling her shoulders and psyching herself up for the landing.

"Alice – stop! Think about this for a second!" Claire pleaded, but Alice was deaf to reason, she was already aligning the plane for the final descent.

The brunette pulled back the throttle to slow down, but she misjudged and the aircraft dropped dangerously low. With a slight adjustment Alice was able to tilt the nose of the plane back up, and they barely crested the rooftop.

Claire braced herself as the wheels connected, bounced a few times and then stayed planted to the structure. Alice did everything she could to bring them to a stop, but she realized that it wouldn't be enough; they were quickly running out of rooftop. But then the landing gear caught on a steel cable set up like a tripwire, and it decreased their speed just enough to keep them from completely falling off the building.

The brunette released the breath she'd been holding until the aircraft started to teeter. The heavy engine in front of the plane had set off its balance to the point where the ex-project knew that there was nothing she could do now to keep them from their fate. Claire gasped and Alice shut her eyes, convinced that any second she'd feel the sensation of falling.

That second never came; the largest of the survivors, and certainly the most athletic, had jumped up to catch the tail. His weight, coupled with another from the group a moment later, brought the plane back to rest on the roof where they maneuvered it away from the edge.

Claire couldn't believe they were still alive; she would've been gracious, had she not been so stirred to an adrenaline-filled rage at Alice.

"Just because _you_ have complete disregard for your life _and mine_, doesn't mean I do! Next time you want to go off halfcocked for a suicide mission – leave me out of it!" Claire spoke quickly, and with venom, then waited for the brunette to open her only means of escape.

The taller woman pulled back the windshield and emerged from the plane, Claire quickly followed suit. The black man who had held the plane down looked up at the pilot.

"Nice landing," he said.

Alice watched the redhead jump off the wing and walk away, her gait determined and her gaze threatening.

"I think technically it's called a crash and burn," the brunette responded, but she wasn't referring to the plane.


	18. Consequences

**I wanted to tell you all that I appreciate your feedback greatly, so keep it coming! Also, I will be taking liberties with a few of these characters, as I've probably already done, but don't hate me for it. :) I think it will make for a more interesting story and enable me to not just regurgitate the film.**

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Chapter 18: Consequences

The black man offered Alice a hand down from the wing of her airplane and she accepted it.

"Luther West," he spoke with respect as they shook hands.

"Alice, that's Claire." She nodded to the redhead avoiding the rest of the survivors. The ex-project counted five of them; Luther, who seemed to fill the role of leader; a man in military uniform, possibly the follower; two other males, one who kept his hair well groomed and the other Asian; followed by a dark-harried woman.

The dainty figure approached Alice alongside the others and said, "Hello, I'm Crystal."

"No-no more introductions; you're here to help us right?" The man with the goatee asked and the Asian chimed in on his heels.

"Can you get us out?"

Alice was becoming overwhelmed; her focus really wasn't on the survivors until Crystal spoke with animation.

"Are you from _Arcadia_?"

"What did you say?" Alice said; they had her full attention now.

"Are you from _Arcadia_?" Crystal repeated.

The brunette couldn't believe it. "What do you know about Arcadia?"

The Asian and Crystal teamed up to answer, the small man speaking first. "They said they could help us."

"There are other survivors, civilization, and safety," Crystal continued.

"It's infection free," the Asian finished.

Then the man with the goatee and black suit hounded the pilot again, "so they sent you both right?"

"No," Alice shook her head, depressed to already be disappointing these strangers.

"There's to be no rescue?" Crystal asked as the hope fell from her features.

Alice didn't want to say it; she was tired of saying it, "I'm sorry."

The man in the suit turned and walked away in disgust, followed by the Asian and Crystal. Alice's gaze lingered on the three as they walked past Claire without a single exchange.

The man in uniform appeared at Luther's side and spoke with a full Spanish accent.

"Thought you could take them to the Promised Land. Angel Ortiz," he said as he held out his hand. Alice shook it quickly; ready to discuss Arcadia, but Angel kept talking, admiration in his voice. "That was some fine flying."

"Thanks" Alice replied right as Luther looked at the man and cleared his throat. Angel's smile fell and Luther stood up a little straighter. It was typical male behavior; one asserting his dominance over the other. Alice realized that if she wanted answers it would be Luther who decided if and how she got them. Angel would not be manipulated; his loyalty in this case was probably a fault. The structure of authority was likely the same for the others; Luther was in charge whether they liked it or not. If Alice wanted to get along here she would have to attempt to not step on his toes, but men with Luther's bulk tended to irritate her like no other; the bigger the bicep, the bigger the ego.

"So what exactly do you know about Arcadia?" She asked Luther and tried to be polite about it.

"Only what we heard on the transmission."

Alice listened intently and that seemed to improve Luther's willingness to devolve information.

"We've been receiving their broadcasts all week; food and shelter, safety and security, no infection. I thought they sent you. We've been sending up flares on the hour to get their attention."

"Nobody's going to see flares from Alaska," Alice reasoned.

Luther laughed outright. "Alaska?"

"I was there; it's a town, or so I thought," she responded not sounding sure of herself.

"I don't think so," the black man retorted and walked over to edge of the building without another word; he held out his hand for Angel's binoculars as the man walked up beside him. It was clear to Alice that she was to follow just like the loyal soldier and it was off-putting.

Luther gave the binoculars to her and pointed out to the ocean; Alice already had it figured out, but she needed to see it. She brought the binoculars up, and focused on a blurry object that rested in the water as patterns of fog covered the image, then revealed it. It was a large, red freighter, the name _ARCADIA _painted onto its hull. She was shocked and at once impressed; with enough supplies, K-mart and the others could easily have survived there without the threat of constant attacks from the undead. _But it still doesn't add up, why wasn't Claire on that ship? Does the bug have something to do with it? _

The black man spoke with authority to Angel, "Play her the recording."

Angel pulled out a handheld radio from a pocket on his vest and said, "I caught this on the shortwave," then pressed play.

A voice emanated from the device, "_this is _Arcadia_, broadcasting on the emergency frequency. There is no infection; we offer safety and security, food and shelter_."

"That's the same message we got; they must have sailed down the coast picking up survivors," Alice articulated.

The words repeated, but right as it got to mentioning 'no infection,' the message cutoff to static. Alice's stomach dropped, and she flashed back to the broadcast she picked up at Rockaway Beach.

"Wha-" Alice had to swallow before she could continue, "what is that?"

"I don't know; it was the last transmission from them until it stopped two days ago," Angel answered.

_Too late – don't tell me I'm already too late,_ Alice thought as she excused herself from the guys. She needed to be with Claire. For a second it seemed like Luther was going to try and stop her.

"Wait," he commanded. It was clear that he liked to be in control of everything, but Alice didn't care if she upset him. She spurned his light instruction, and walked over to the redhead who was waiting by the entrance to the inside of the prison.

"Claire," Alice said trying to get her attention, but she was still upset with the brunette because she didn't respond. Alice took it in stride; an angry Claire was better than none at all. "That ship over there," she pointed, "it's _Arcadia_."

The redhead broke her silence a moment later, "I know."

"You remember?" The older woman asked surprised. If Claire could remember it would solve more than a few problems.

"I remember the beach. People were coming to help us."

"What happened? Why didn't you go with the others?" The brunette interrogated her with vigor.

"I don't know," she replied tersely.

"We have to get to that ship," Alice said and it finally got Claire to look at her.

"What is it with you?"

Alice brought her eyebrows together in confusion and her companion kept speaking.

"You can't save everyone – you shouldn't try."

The brunette felt insulted, "I'm not trying to save everyone." Claire scoffed at the remark. "I'm trying to save your friends."

"So this is _my_ fault?" The younger woman's green eyes reflected her wrath.

"No-no, that's not what I meant," Alice tried to backtrack but suddenly Luther and Angel appeared behind them, and the black man spoke to them both with charm.

"Coming ladies? Dinner is about to be served."

Claire turned her focus away from Alice and walked through the door without a second glance as Luther joined her, a smug smile on his face. Angel followed him, leaving the brunette on the roof alone. The fingers of her right hand clenched into a fist; the significance of Claire's move was not lost Alice.

The ex-project returned to her aircraft and walked around to the nose; she took hold of a propeller blade and rotated it experimentally. It seemed to be fine, so she grabbed the pack that contained her and Claire's things. Before she left the rooftop, the wind died down and for a time she could hear the faint sound of the undead struggling below; their moans and useless clambering, a backdrop to Alice's personal reflection on her dauntless landing and its consequences.


	19. Viper

**To anonymous reviewers: your comments are appreciated, so keep leaving them.**

* * *

Chapter 19: Viper

When Alice entered the mess hall she saw Luther, Angel, and Claire situated around a table; they were consorting joyfully over cleared plates. The redhead didn't even look up as she walked past them to collect her own food.

The brunette tried to keep her blood under a boil as she listened in on their conversation, while Crystal tried to chat with Alice as she served her.

Claire's voice wafted above Crystal's high notes.

"You know, I have the strangest feeling that I know you," the redhead said looking curiously at Luther.

"Yeah, I get that a lot," he said with pride.

_Way to boost his ego, Claire. And how would you even know who he is? Your memory is shot._

"So you're a fan of basketball, eh?" The black man leaned slightly towards her.

"Um wait…Luther West…" The redhead's eyes lit up, "Star point guard for the L.A. Lakers!"

_Fuck me; she can remember some hotshot athlete but not me?_ Alice thought.

Luther grinned and placed a large hand on Claire's shoulder, "Always a pleasure to meet a fan," he said.

Alice was two seconds away from removing that hand permanently; the button holding her knife in place was released by her fingers with a snap, but then the man in the black suit cut in front of her, taking the plate offered to her without a word and the new annoyance distracted the brunette.

"Excuse me," she said sarcastically for him, but he walked away and sat next to the Asian. Claire and Luther were laughing again, but Crystal spoke over them.

"Once an asshole – always an asshole."

"What's his problem?" Alice replied.

"Back in the world, we used to date. He was a producer and I was trying to be an actress; you can guess how well that went for me," Crystal sighed as she handed Alice her food.

"What about him?" The brunette asked as she motioned to the Asian.

"That's Kim Yong, Bennett's intern."

"Thanks for the food," Alice mumbled and walked over to join Claire and the others. She sat down and their friendly banter froze; the moment she picked up her spoon the redhead rose from the table and left the mess hall. Alice took as a deep a breath as she could manage without being obvious, and began to eat as Crystal took Claire's vacated spot. Luther and Angel went up to the pot to retrieve seconds and the actress questioned Alice.

"So that plane of yours, do you think it can still fly?"

"Yes, but it only sits two," Alice responded.

"So you could take us one at a time?" Crystal perked up, but was immediately shut down by Luther as he returned.

"She was lucky to land here once; seven or eight more times would be suicide."

The actress turned back to her food and finished eating. Alice wasn't hungry at all; if anything the meal was making her sick or maybe that was just Luther going on about his glory days as the leading point guard in his once-upon-a-time conference. Right as he was describing his three-point shot at the buzzer that would've made his team win Finals, Alice watched Crystal get up and make another plate, then exit the cafeteria unnoticed by Luther and the others.

The brunette interrupted his retelling and commented, "you said seven or eight trips, is there someone I haven't met yet?"

The black man looked up at her surprised, "oh, well there's Wendell."

"That's seven, who's number eight?"

Luther bristled at Alice's line of questioning and she assumed that he was used to being the one demanding answers, not giving them.

"He wouldn't be worth your time," Luther warned.

"I'll decide that for myself. Where is he?"

The leader took an aggravated breath before replying. He motioned to the door Crystal had left through and said, "go right, take the stairs to the bottom, he's at the end of the hall." Luther's unnaturally white teeth showed in the small grin of a liar. Alice rose from the table and walked to the door. When she passed it, she turned to her left just like Crystal had done, and smiled back at Luther unintimidated as his grin turned into a scowl.

The stairs were dimly lit by torches and Alice descended with caution. At the end of the hallway, behind a door, she could hear whispering. She identified Crystal's voice and the smooth undertones of a man.

"Tell me more about this newcomer – the pilot," said the male.

"She's armed to the teeth, but her airplane sits two – it's perf-"

"Keep it down babe; besides we don't need her plane to leave, but we may need her help."

The conversation had Alice troubled; it reeked of plotting and manipulation.

"But what if your way doesn't work?" Crystal questioned.

"It will. Now be a good girl and keep Luther company."

Apparently this man was another leader, barking orders, confident that things would go his way.

Before the actress had a chance to reveal Alice's snooping, the brunette opened the door and walked into the room; inside was a reinforced holding cell in the middle of the floor. She was shocked to see the man contained inside.

"Oh hello," Crystal recovered.

Alice needed to seem unsuspicious, so she spoke casually, "hi."

The prisoner turned to face Alice, and she noticed first his rugged good-looks. He saw her, then met Crystal's gaze in a silent command. The woman left without another word as the man put down his plate, and held out his hand in greeting through a slot in the cell.

"Name's Chris."

_What is with all these men being so damn polite? _Alice questioned, but didn't offer her name or her hand.

Unfazed, Chris transformed his unanswered handshake into a pointing finger. "You were the one flying that plane."

Once again having to cover up for her spying, she asked, "How do you know that?"

"Crystal told me."

_Honesty – there's a new one,_ Alice thought as Chris withdrew his hand and continued.

"Listen, I have a feeling that we can be of use to each other, a kind of…you scratch my back – I'll scratch yours." Chris's green eyes gave her a once over, his low brow pronounced his stare and for a second she felt a faint recognition in the look. The unwavering attention of a handsome man may have worked on the actress, but it would not work on her.

"And just what do _you _have, that I could possibly need."

"A way out."

"No offense," Alice said with sarcasm, "but I already have a way out."

Chris wasn't fooled. "You barely landed here in the first place, and that means the chances of you taking off successfully are slim. Besides, why would you risk your life, and that of your friend's," at the mention of Claire, Alice's nostrils flared, "to just leave? You want to help the others, I know you do."

Alice didn't like how this man could read her; perhaps she was more the open book than she thought.

"You help me, and I can help them," he continued.

"It seems to me that maybe you're in that cage for a reason."

"Why I'm in here doesn't really matter, but I can tell you – I'm no prisoner."

Chris certainly sounded convincing, but Alice still wasn't on board, "And why should I trust you?"

"Would you rather leave your fate in the hands of Luther? The guy is an idiot, all brawn and no brains. Not like us; you and I see the bigger picture."

As much as she hated to admit it, Chris had a point and she was beginning to like the way he thought.

He kept talking, "I don't care how you do it. Convince Luther to unlock this cage, steal the keys from his pocket, or beat him senseless and take what you want." Yes, Alice was liking Chris more and more. "Just get the keys, and I'll do the rest."

Suddenly Chris walked back to the end of his cell, picked up his food and started to eat as Luther entered the room.

"I wouldn't trust a word he says," the black man practically spat. "It's all lies. He'd say _anything_ to get free."

Alice began to mull the possibilities over in her head and Luther spoke again.

"I'll show you to your room."

The brunette followed the man out, but glanced back at Chris as his lip upturned into a deviant smile.

_We're trapped in a pit of snakes; Luther has fangs, but Chris has venom, _Alice thought.

Luther grabbed one of the torches and started back up the stairs. "If I were you I wouldn't come back here; that man is dangerous," he cautioned her with false nobility.

_That man isn't the only one…_

"I can see it in his eyes."

_I dare you to look into mine. _ Smiling with cunning seemed to be a trend in this place, because at that thought, Alice smirked like the devil himself.

* * *

'**Do it - do it - do it!' Hey now, don't encourage her...*thinks about how annoying Luther is* On second thought, go for it. :)**


	20. Signs of Insanity

Chapter 20: Signs of Insanity

The cell Luther had deemed hers appeared to be the most rundown of all of them. Alice was pissed to learn that Claire's was right next to his all the way on the other side of the floor. _Oh hell no, that is not happening, _the brunette thought. She would get settled then…then something was going down.

She removed all of her guns except one Smith and Wesson, but then started thinking about all the things Luther and Claire could be doing right now…

_Torchlight illuminated Claire's cell; her elegant hands were covered in clay as she sat at the potter's wheel and molded a cylinder. She forced it ever higher when Luther came up behind her with the stealth of a ghost. He rested his hands gently onto hers. The wet clay coated his extremities and Claire turned to face him as "Unchained Melody" played in the background, when suddenly he leaned in and…_

The brunette picked back up her other revolver.

_A large ship sailed across the water, it was the _Arcadia_. The black man was standing on its bow, brooding as Claire walked over to him. The two shared a tentative smile and he spoke to her. "Give me your hand and close your eyes," the redhead obliged. He walked her to railing of the ship and stopped behind her. "Now, step up." Claire stood on the first rung and Luther's bulk surrounded her, keeping her from falling. The ocean breeze tossed Claire's red hair like it displaced the cresting waves beneath them, and the black man pulled her arms out with his. "Open your eyes." Luther let go of the woman's arms and placed his snuggly around her waist._

_Claire did as Luther said and her face lit up with intense bliss, "I'm flying! Luther…"_

Alice made sure both of her sawed off shotguns were loaded, and placed them back into their holsters.

_Luther and Claire were talking over a cash-register, both dressed as department store cashiers; the redhead was caught up in Luther's adventurous tale. "They offered me a chance to lead them, to teach them, to be king-" suddenly the black man's retelling was interrupted by an infected woman with long, white hair. The fiend was preparing to attack Claire, but Luther broke into a glass case behind him and pulled out a rifle. As he loaded the gun, the undead picked up the heavy cash-register intent on crushing the redhead beneath it. Claire screamed right before Luther shot the heavy machine out of the monster's hands and said, "Lady, I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave the store."_

"_Who the hell are you?" The grotesque woman questioned him._

"_Name's Luther, Housewares," he responded and then blasted her into oblivion._

_Claire rushed into Luther's protective embrace, obviously shaken, and the man thought to himself, _sure, I could've stayed in the past, could've even been king. But in my own way – I am king.

_Luther spun the redhead around and leaned her over into a dip; Claire fit perfectly in his arms and as he moved in to kiss her, he said with suave, "Hail to the king, baby."_

Lastly, Alice checked the blade on her short sword while entertaining all the ways she could 'take care of' Luther. When she was satisfied that the edge was sharp enough to split hairs, in a fluid motion and with practiced hand, she spun the sword once and sheathed it.

_I wouldn't really – actually…would I? _The brunette asked herself.

"Nah," she said out-loud. Luther was a lot of things, 'annoying' and 'inconvenient' seemed to top her list, but she couldn't just kill him for that.

Suddenly, Claire appeared behind her and said, "You know, talking to yourself is the first sign you've gone crazy."

Alice flipped around to see the redhead leaning at the entrance of her cell. An affectionate smile adorned the younger woman's lips. Alice wanted to smile too, but she held back.

"What's the second? Risking both our lives so I can play hero?" The taller woman spoke without being condescending; only self-degrading, worried that the redhead was still upset with her.

"Alice, I-"

The brunette heard Claire's regretful tone and cut her off. "No – I'm sorry. You were right; this world is dangerous enough without me having to go and look for it. I saw them and I just blocked everything else out. I forgot about you – forgot that…I wouldn't have survived that crash."

"Compassion isn't a bad thing."

"It is when it puts your life on the line."

Claire rose from her perch and walked over to the taller woman.

She spoke honestly, "Your life matters too." She looked for confirmation in her companion's eyes. Alice didn't want to give it, but how could she disagree with such a beautiful face? She would forever be at Claire's mercy, and so the brunette nodded and gave her the affirmation she craved.

Alice thought back to their landing and hated to acknowledge it, but needed to. "If it wasn't for Luther", she swallowed tersely, "we'd both be dead right now."

Claire didn't dwell on Alice's apology, it wasn't necessary; the brunette had suffered more than enough. "Ugh, don't even get me started on him. The man is an idiot, all brawn and no brains."

Although Alice was more than pleased to hear it, she thought it odd to find Chris's exact words fall from the redhead's mouth, but she didn't comment on it.

"What happened to," Alice grabbed Claire's shoulder dramatically and fawned like a love-struck teenager, "_Luther West!_ Star point guard for the L.A. Lakers!"

"He's good at playing ball, I got to admit," the redhead shrugged and said with amusement; then changed the subject. "So, any_ reason_ you disarmed yourself; then put everything back on? I mean twirling the sword was a nice a touch, but…"

"Ah well," the brunette's cheeks flushed at being watched; then she cleared her throat. "I was going to collect something of mine… that I thought I might have lost… and that I thought might've fallen into the wrong hands."

"And that would be?" Claire raised an eyebrow to accent her question.

"You."

Claire smiled at the brunette's seriousness; it was horribly sweet, even if a little misguided. She took Alice's hands in her own and kissed each one softly, then proceeded to place both of them on her waist.

The brunette could see like a prophet exactly where this was going, and she was now very happy with the location of her cell. They undressed and moved as one. With every piece of fabric that was removed, Claire showed Alice exactly what she hadn't lost, and even though they put out the torches illuminating the room, there was no extinguishing the passionate flames that consumed them both.

When their lovemaking concluded an hour later, the taller woman moved her fingertips back and forth like an ocean current against Claire's bicep as they both drifted into oblivion on the firm prison mattress. It was simple moments like these that made the whole world fade away; where Alice knew she was either completely sane, or completely crazy.


	21. Had It Coming

Chapter 21: Had It Coming

For Alice, the morning arrived too soon. She was about to wake Claire when Luther walked past their cell and saw the couple lying under the covers of the bed. He stared at the redhead for just a second too long and Alice snarled alongside her spoken words.

"You got a problem?"

The black man turned away in jealousy and disgust, and the brunette was somewhat thankful that Claire wasn't awake to see it.

After the brush with Luther, she roused the younger woman and the two spent the rest of the morning lounging in bed, talking about inconsequential things and smiling, but it was time to face the reality of their situation. They got dressed for a late breakfast; only Crystal and Angel were still in the cafeteria when they arrived.

The pair sat next to the solider and actress with the latest bowl of mush that was considered edible. Alice ate in silence as her mind worked out a plan. _Ok, we can't stay here that much is obvious. We're not going to fly out, and we're not just gonna walk out- _the brunette's thoughts were interrupted as Claire rested her hand on Alice's thigh. The taller woman smiled to herself; she'd never dreamed that such an effortless touch could override the emptiness that had become second nature.

The only solution Alice could come up with that would help her and Claire, and potentially the other survivors, was letting Chris out and hearing what he had devised. The only thing standing in her way was Luther. At her conclusion, the soldier rose from the table and she stopped him with a question before he left.

"Angel, do you know where I can find Luther?"

The soldier thought for a second before he replied, "He's probably in the guard's break room. It's on the ground floor; I'm actually headed there right now if you want to join me."

The redhead's hand tightened on Alice's thigh possessively under the table.

"No thanks," the brunette replied and laughed under her breath as the soldier shrugged and walked out of the room. She needed to talk to Claire about her plan and figured it was probably safe to do so in front of Crystal. The actress might even be a potential ally for convincing the redhead.

"Have you heard about the prisoner," Alice questioned the redhead, and as predicted the actress was instantly interested in the conversation.

The redhead was taken aback. "There's actually a prisoner still here?"

"He's not an inmate," Crystal argued.

Alice didn't respond to the actress, "He says he can get us out, if we free him."

"He should be freed either way, I mean unless he's criminally insane there's no reason to keep him locked up," Claire said righteously, and Alice had to agree that it was ridiculous for the other survivors to have kept him detained for so long.

Again the actress chimed in, "That's what I've been trying to tell Luther for ages, but he's convinced that Chris is dangerous."

Claire looked away from the two women in thought and Alice asked her, "So you're ok with hearing what he has to say?" The redhead didn't answer, so the taller woman tried to get her attention. "Claire – hey."

"What? Oh yeah, go for it," she responded, but to Alice she still seemed far away. Then Crystal spoke up.

"Maybe if _you_ ask him, Luther will finally see reason."

Alice didn't tell the naïve actress that she had no intention of asking him. When their meal concluded, Crystal showed them both to the guard's leisure room where everyone else, including the man Alice had not met yet, was playing poker.

Wendell could be heard complaining to Luther as they entered, "I'm telling you, I've been hearing movement in the walls."

The leader dismissed the comment with ease, "Uou're just being paranoid."

Alice walked over to the wooden table self-assured, and Luther instantly stood up defensively. _Someone's a little jumpy,_ Alice thought.

"Your keys, _please._" The brunette held her hand out expectantly. The leader left it empty, clearly reading Alice's objective.

"No way in Hell – I'm not letting him out!"

"And I'm not giving you a choice! Hand me the keys, and I won't have to pummel your ass," she said confrontationally, hoping against hope that Luther would give her just one reason; one reason was all she needed.

Luther tried to stare the brunette down, but she didn't back off in the slightest.

"Angel! Take care of her. I'm tired of her disrespectful mouth," the leader ordered.

_Pathetic,_ Alice thought, _can't even do it himself. _She prepared herself to possibly take them both on as the soldier set down his cards; out of the corner of her eye she saw Claire step protectively between her and Angel.

"No," Angel responded and crossed his arms for emphasis, and the redhead relaxed.

The black man looked astounded and spoke to him directly. "What did you say?"

"I said – no. I don't hit women," the soldier explained in his thick Spanish accent.

Alice joked with Angel, "No wonder you put up with his shit for so long."

The soldier laughed outright, and Luther became enraged.

"You've been nothing but trouble for me since you and that _slut _landed here!"

Alice shook her head as a maniacal laugh began to pour from her upturned lips. "Oh, I was hoping you'd say something like that," she said as a twinkle gleamed in her eyes. The black man's fury cracked and she could see that it was fear breaking through.

He sneered and took a swing at the brunette, but she ducked the blow easily. Alice lined herself up for an offensive strike as Luther tried to regain his balance. She pulled back her right fist and sent it forward with every ounce of strength she possessed. The resounding hit smashed against the side of Luther's face and the giant fell, instantly out cold.

_God damn it, _Alice thought. Knocking him out so fast had left her desire for vengeance regrettably unsatisfied. She sighed and did a quick look around to see if anyone was watching…they all were. _Hell with it,_ she thought, then kicked Luther hard in the gut with her booted foot.

Claire was shocked. "What'd you do that for? He's already unconscious."

The brunette defended her actions with a smile. "He called you a slut."

"Yeah, that's what the punch was for."

"Nope – that was so I could get the keys. I can't help it if the bastard can't take a hit," Alice remarked as she shrugged.

The redhead smiled as the survivors shrank away from her companion with a new, healthy dose of apprehension.

Alice rolled the brute over and took the keys from his pocket; the shining pieces of metal clanked loudly in her hand. The key-ring easily held over thirty keys, and Claire teased her playfully, "Probably should've asked him what key it was first."

The brunette's shoulders fell, "Yeah…"


	22. Related

Chapter 22: Related

"It's actually a combination; this one unlocks the top lock," Angel grabbed a silver key as he explained to Alice. He then picked up an adjacent key, "and this one does the middle," he pointed out the next key on the ring, "and that one does the third lock."

"Thanks Angel," the brunette said relieved as she and Claire walked to the stairs. The survivors all got up to follow them, apparently in their eyes, taking Luther out had put her in charge. It was a burden she didn't want, and one she knew that without the slightest hesitation she would dismiss if it meant better things for Claire.

The prisoner's eyes lit up as he watched Alice walk in, keys in hand. "So, which was it? Please tell me you beat him senseless," he said to the brunette, his deep voice echoing off the walls. He couldn't take his attention off the object of his freedom.

Alice placed a key into the first lock and before turning she replied with a grin, "I beat him senseless."

Chris let out a snicker, "I'd have paid good money to see that."

The old-world reference made Alice faintly nostalgic, but she undid the second lock and beamed. "With the mood Luther's gonna be in when he finally wakes up – you may just get a repeat performance."

A silence settled in as the woman placed a key into the final slot and turned it. The survivors took a step back as she opened the door, and Chris walked out a free man. He took a look around meeting every face, and reading the expressions he found there. Alice was on Cloud Nine; Bennett, Kim Young, and Wendell shied away from him; Angel stiffened; Crystal smiled like a school girl; and the final figure looked at him with indifference.

"Claire?"

To Alice, it was no surprise that Chris knew her lover's name, Crystal or one of the other's could've easily told him, but the way he said it put her on guard.

The redhead spoke with trepidation, "What?"

He took unsteady steps towards her and said, "Claire it's me." When he stood face to face with her, he brought his hand up to brush Claire's jaw. "It's Chris." At the touch, the redhead grabbed his hand, twisted his arm behind his back and forced him into a shoulder lock.

She put pressure on his wrist and growled into his ear, "I don't know you."

Chris was at her mercy, in his position he could do nothing without getting at least a dislocated shoulder. "Claire, I'm your brother – remember?"

Alice had no way of knowing if what he said was the truth, for all she could tell it was just another one of his attempts at manipulation.

"What the hell's happened to you?" He questioned the redhead, and Alice decided it was time to step in.

She came up behind the two, and put her empty hand on the small of Claire's back; the redhead leaned slightly into the touch and looked at Alice as the taller woman spoke.

"It's ok, let him go." Claire didn't hesitate in releasing Chris's wrist and pushing him away. The brunette directed a comment to Chris as he rolled his shoulder to work out the kinks. "She's suffered from some kind of memory loss. If you really are her brother-" Alice said with warning, then looked at Claire to finish softly, "it'll come back."

The brunette didn't dwell on the new development, but pushed for the reason she freed Chris in the first place. "So let's hear it, what's your way out?"

"It's at the south-gate entrance; let's take a walk," he responded and the survivors cleared out of his way as he marched to the door.

_Figures he wouldn't give me a straight answer, _Alice thought, as she followed him out with Claire and the others behind her. She wasn't quite sure if she liked the fact that Chris knew exactly where he was going; it made her wonder if perhaps he really was an inmate.

They emerged into the afternoon light and found themselves in a heavily barricaded courtyard; the rotting undead became frenzied at the presence of the group. Alice eyed the gate wearily as Chris approached a garage door and put his back to a wall, leaning smugly as he began his boast.

"Behind door number one – is a UPV, urban pacification vehicle. The prison kept in case of a serious riot. Sixteen wheels, steel plates, water cannon, seats twenty…basically, ten tons of fun." Chris walked over to the gate holding the fiends at bay, and they crowded it even more. He said directly, "drive right over 'em."

Angel walked over to the garage door and said, "It's locked."

Alice held up the key ring and lifted an eyebrow, but Angel shook his head. "We'll have to cut through it," he responded. "Hold on, I'll be back in a second." The solider took off and Alice assumed he was going to get a torch to cut the metal.

Mere seconds passed and a slightly dazed Luther walked into the courtyard. Alice tensed up but he didn't confront her, didn't even look her way, but he did look at Chris.

"Hey Luther," Alice called to him.

The black man turned to face her and she could see a small line of blood originating from a gash at the corner of his eye. Alice fought hard not to smile and tossed him his key ring; certain that she wouldn't need it again, but knowing how to get it back in case she did. He caught it skillfully, but had to stagger out of the way upon Angel's return.

The soldier carted in a large olive-colored oxygen tank on a two-wheel dolly. He set up the acetylene torch no problem, and within minutes was cutting through the lock holding the door in place.

Alice wondered if Claire was thinking about her encounter with the undead welder; at the sight of Angel's thick leather gloves the brunette couldn't help but remember it. But the redhead didn't show any signs that it affected her at all; she was too focused on her supposed family member.

The ex-project analyzed them both, and the similarities started to add up. The way they carried themselves, the matching green eyes, they even approached thinking of Luther the same way. There was no doubt in her mind that the two were related, but she didn't quite know what that meant.

Angel shut the valve to the oxygen, extinguishing the flame, and then lifted his goggles as Chris walked past him to raise the door. The freed man pulled up on the handle and revealed the black vehicle inside the garage. It was just like he had described; massive wheels, sturdy exterior, and a swiveling cannon perched on top. A true thing of beauty, that was until Alice saw the greased engine hanging from the ceiling by thick chains.

_Would it kill for just one thing to go right?_ Alice questioned herself then she turned to Angel, "you got a fix for this?"

"I can put it back in, but it may take about a week," he said despairingly.

"I can help," Chris offered much to Alice's surprise. "We'll have it done in two days."

There was a collective sigh among the rest of the survivors as they dissipated from the area. Bennett and Kim Yong left first, followed by Luther, but Wendell stayed behind as the actress approached Alice and Claire.

"Well that's a disappointment," Crystal said to the pilot.

Alice nodded, even though she knew that what they had now was better than the nothing they had before.

"Oh," Crystal continued, "I don't know if you two were told, but our running water reaches the shower-block. So anytime you ladies want you can have a shower."

Alice immediately became excited. "Are you serious?"

"The water's cold," the actress responded, "but yes. Well, I've got to go make lunch." With that Crystal followed Wendell out, leaving Claire and Alice alone as the two guys collected the various tools they would need to reassemble the engine.

Forgetting that they were impossibly surrounded by the undead, trapped inside a concrete complex with at least one hostile stranger, and the generally depressing mood of being one of the few people that remained after the utter decimation of humanity – Alice let her optimism rekindle with the thought of cleanliness only a shower could provide.

"Things are beginning to look up," Alice stated, but Claire was still pensive at her side.

"Alice…can we talk?"

* * *

**That's never a good sign...**


	23. Then It Was You

Chapter 23: Then It Was You

"Alice…can we talk?" Claire asked.

_Or maybe they're not looking up at all, _Alice thought, but quickly responded to the younger woman. "Of course; let's go back to the room, we can talk there."

Once in the cell, the taller woman sat on the cot against the wall and motioned for Claire to join her, but she stood perpendicular to her instead.

"Alice, about Chris…I do remember him. He was the one…holding my hand at our parents funeral." At this, Claire started to pace the length of room. "The last time I saw him was before the outbreak. I went to look for him; I knew he was in L.A., but I couldn't find any sign of him after that. Months passed, and I went off on my own and avoided everyone. Then one day I went into a deserted store in Texas to resupply. That's where I found K-mart." Claire smiled at the memory, but she continued to avoid Alice's gaze. "She was on her own and so young – I couldn't leave her behind, or maybe I was just tired of being alone; sometimes it's hard just living for yourself. After that, it seemed like every place we stopped we picked up someone new."

Claire's eyebrows knitted together in recollection as her pacing stopped. "Then it was Carlos and LJ, Mikey…and then…"

Alice could already see where this was going, and not for the first time, she dreaded it. The brunette stood.

"Then it was _you_," Claire said surprised, but then she smiled and practically shouted, "I remember you!" The redhead lunged at Alice and wrapped her arms around her in a blissful embrace, but the brunette was reluctant to return the hug.

Claire noticed Alice's lack of enthusiasm, and looked up at the taller woman without letting her go. Then she remembered those evocative blue eyes looking at her in another way, in a loving way beneath a desert moon. She realized now that it was how Alice always looked at her. She confronted the brunette about it; about the one night she could remember that was spent searching for pleasure and comfort, but discovering something more.

"Why didn't you tell me we were together?...That I love you, that you love me?"

There were those words again, and Alice wondered, _did she mean that or was she simply recounting what was already said? _

"I wasn't sure it still applied," the brunette answered wearily.

"What do you mean?"

"You'll remember soon enough." Alice recalled the destruction of their first relationship quite well; it pretty much happened right after its swift beginning.

_Alice woke up in the dusty hotel room to find a naked Claire gently settled in her arms still asleep. The memory of what had taken place the night before made Alice gleeful. Then in an instant, regret overshadowed her feelings of warmth and contentment. She didn't regret making love to Claire; she would never in all her life regret that. It was because of what had to take place next that troubled her. Before she could think more about it, Claire woke and looked happily into her eyes. _Now there's a smile to rival even the sun_, Alice thought._

"_Good morning," Claire greeted._

"_Morning," Alice said as she brushed a lock of red hair behind Claire's ear. The next words were out of her mouth before she could stop them, "You are so beautiful." Claire blushed at the statement and the brunette couldn't contain herself again; she brought her lips to Claire's and kissed her soundly. Before she could be overcome with passion, Alice broke away. But the redhead wasn't finished; she continued to kiss Alice's naked body trailing ever lower, down the taller woman's neck to the firm skin of her collarbone._

_Alice moaned, "Oh god." She wanted to continue badly, but this wasn't right. "Claire wait."_

_The redhead looked up, "What is it?"_

_Alice stalled, "I think we should get up. I can hear people moving outside," and then was surprised at how easily she lied._

"_I don't hear anything. We have time," the redhead said mischievously. _

_The brunette sighed, she just needed to come out with it, but she was choking on the words. "No, we don't."_


	24. Human Again

Chapter 24: Human Again

Alice didn't want to think about it anymore, didn't want to remember what she had sabotaged. But the wheels were already turning in Claire's head, and she recalled waking up in Alice's arms inside the motel.

"_I think we should get up. I can hear people moving outside," Alice tried to reason._

_But the redhead playfully replied back, "I don't hear anything. We have time."_

_Alice sighed, and tried to find the words. "No, we don't."_

_The younger woman waited patiently for an explanation._

"_Claire," the brunette bit her lip nervously, "after we get to Vegas…I'm leaving."_

_The redhead was shocked and tried to deny what Alice had told her to combat the pain blossoming in her chest. "Yeah, we're all leaving Vegas – to go to Alaska."_

_Alice tried again, she needed to be perfectly clear. She needed Claire to understand. "I'm not going to Alaska with the convoy." But all Claire heard was 'I'm not going to Alaska with you.'_

_The brunette tried to rise from the bed to put some space between them, but the redhead held her down. Alice certainly could've forced her off, but she owed Claire this._

"_Then I won't go either. I'm staying with you," the younger woman said stubbornly._

_The fact that Claire would leave all her friends, and the chance for safety behind just so she could follow her made Alice's heart swell with joy, but it was bittersweet. "No, I can't let you do that. I'm not safe to be around-"before she could say more Claire interrupted her, voice full of anxiety._

"_I don't care…Alice – I love you." Claire knew the admission was rushed, but she also knew it wasn't just an attempt to sway Alice; however, she wished feverishly that it would. It was the truth, whether the brunette liked it or not._

_Alice didn't let herself evaluate how she felt about the redhead. She knew that if she did she'd come to the same conclusion as Claire, and that just wasn't safe. _Oh god,_ she thought as she suffered through the physical hurt of what had to be done, _Claire forgive me. _If she was going to do this, it would need to be convincing. She couldn't stop; couldn't show any emotion._

_The brunette spoke with superiority and indifference. "You have to stay. This convoy needs you, and I don't." _

_There it was done. Alice could see Claire's heart practically bleeding before her as the redhead's eyes filled with tears._

"You shouldn't have left us!" Claire condemned the woman before her and backed away, but her anger quickly receded and gave way to misery. "I couldn't take care of them after you were gone." Tears rolled down her cheeks collecting the grime and dust off her face leaving trails of clean skin. "I was always so strong and in control, but you left…and suddenly I couldn't think straight. I didn't know what to do."

The redhead took a breath as Alice stood there stunned, like a deer caught in headlights.

"It took months for us to get to Alaska. When we got there, there was no one, nothing, just those planes. We stayed near the helicopter the first night and I couldn't give any more orders, couldn't find a more suitable place to stay, couldn't even check to make sure the area was safe for fuck's sake!" Claire's fury was back, but it wouldn't last. "I was like-like one of those things! Mindless, uncaring – the entire time." Alice knew exactly to what she was referring, she herself had felt not much different. "I put everyone at risk because…I couldn't live without you." The whispered confession burrowed into the brunette's ears.

"I'm sorry."

"Wait – there's more." The redhead brought her fingers to her temple as she recalled the memory that was once so clouded. "It was K-mart who saw the ship first, the _Arcadia_. She organized with the others to make a signal fire. It wasn't long before they came for us. When they hit the shore K-mart saw the Umbrella logo stitched to their combat suits. Some part of me recognized it too, but I just didn't care. I watched the others run, K-mart was going to leave too, but she came back for me. That's when they over took us both and put those bugs on. She was able to shake them off, and pull me to my feet. We ran into the trees to hide. It was chaos on the beach...She looked at me, looked through me…I was so useless. She told me that she was going to help the others, and I didn't even _think_ to stop her." Claire clenched her bandaged fist tightly, knowing that if the soft material wasn't between her fingernails and palm, that she would break skin. "She ran back to the shore and I heard yelling, I heard her scream, and…that's all I remember until I woke up with my hands tied to that plane."

The redhead stopped talking and took another step back afraid that in her fury she would physically lash out, and she knew that if she did the brunette would not stop her.

Alice panicked, fearful that Claire would walk away from her leaving only the memory of her rage behind, just as she had done before. "I have found you only to lose you again. What is wrong with me?"

The brunette's words were full of anguish and regret, and it was never more apparent to Claire that they could both die tomorrow. She didn't let her anger devour her; didn't let Alice berate herself for the past by abandoning her. She took a breath…and let it go. The tension left her muscles, and the menace deserted her thoughts leaving only a soft lament.

She walked back up to Alice and hung both of her arms around her neck. Suddenly remembering Alice's scarred skin, the redhead questioned her. "I don't understand…your back?"

The brunette was so relieved that Claire wasn't leaving her that she hardly registered what the younger woman was asking.

"I thought you couldn't get hurt?" Claire said puzzled.

The brunette's returned mortality – her humanity really – had left her a stranger in her own skin. The years spent with her genetically-altered identity could not be simply undone by the months spent trying to get to Alaska. It was never just new cerebral powers and heightened abilities; it was a mentality. It terrified Alice at first. She felt disconnected from her own body. Every movement was coupled with uncertainty. The powerlessness of it all was foreign and unwanted, but she found that even at the loss, other – more important things were returned. Following through with her selfish desires was again within her grasp.

"I'm human again," Alice put emphasis on the statement trying to get the meaning across. The reason she hadn't stayed before no longer had any merit, and she prayed desperately that the redhead could see that.

"Alice," Claire replied, "I didn't care then, and I don't care now." Just like that, the younger woman removed all the doubt Alice had in herself, and replaced it with a shining confidence.

"I love you," Alice confessed.

Claire ran her hands along the back of Alice's neck, and it enticed the brunette to slip her fingers into the redhead's pants pockets and pull her closer. Their lips drew together like a magnet. The warmth from the contact radiated in them both, and Claire knew that she could spend the rest of her life kissing Alice.

"I love you too."


	25. Black Diamond

Chapter 25: Black Diamond

After losing herself in another kiss, Claire withdrew her arms and spoke.

"K-mart is on that ship." Alice nodded gravely in response, and the redhead continued with conviction. "I have to go after her – I have to go after them all."

The taller woman brushed away a lock of hair that had fallen over Claire's face.

"We'll go together. Once the UPV is ready we'll leave." There was nothing else they could do to prepare for the rescue, so Alice changed the subject. "So are you up for a shower?"

Claire did want to stay with the brunette, but the same blood that was running through her veins poured in another and she was drawn to its call.

"Actually, I'd like to go see Chris."

"If you're sure..." The brunette raised an eyebrow impishly.

"Oh don't worry, I have every intention of taking advantage of that shower," the younger woman approached Alice to whisper in her ear, "_and_ _you_." She kissed her the brunette chastely on the cheek, and turned to leave.

"Hold on. Before you go -" Alice left her statement unfinished as she grabbed her pack and undid the zipper. She fished through its contents, and Claire heard the distinct sound of shifting coins.

"Do you have money in there?"

"Quarters," Alice answered.

"Quarters?"

"It's a hobby," the taller woman explained.

"Ok. I mean some people collect stamps so-"

"I don't _collect_ them," Alice retorted feigning insult. She pulled out a red shotgun slug and unfolded the closed plastic to show her companion that, instead of shot, the interior was filled with quarters.

"Oh," Claire responded.

Alice set the slug aside and went back to her original intention. She withdrew a pitch-black Berretta 90two. She'd picked the gun up in Russia; at first, she hadn't thought the semiautomatic was anything special, but as she handled the weapon she became aware of its excellent design. It was a custom build highlighted by the craftsman's signature: an imprinted drawing of a diamond on the handle. She held it up to Claire by the barrel, grip out.

"I'm assuming you remember how to use it," Alice said.

The redhead took the gun in hand and proceeded to show Alice exactly what she remembered. She pushed the magazine release and caught the falling clip deftly with her free hand. The container was maxed out with 9mm bullets, so she slid it back in, switched off the safety, and pulled back the hammer as she aimed the weapon at the cell entrance. Claire held the pose firm for a moment; then in a graceful motion reset the hammer and let the gun fall to her side.

"Good," Alice commented, "just keep an eye out for Luther ok?" She gave the redhead a couple more loaded magazines, seventeen rounds each, as well as a holster to be placed on her belt.

Claire took the items and put each in their respective place as she spoke. "I'll be fine; besides, now I have you and Chris to watch my back. I'll see you when you're done with your shower?"

Alice nodded, "Of course."

The redhead smiled with content and exited the cell. Alice watched her go. The gentle sway of her slender hips was accented beautifully by the new pistol at her side.

_It's probably a good thing I'm taking a cold shower,_ the brunette thought as she left for the shower-block.

Alice entered the block and was thrilled to see numerous large pedestals with shower faucets lining the walls. The eastern section of the area was devoted to space for the inmate's discarded clothes and covered racks of towels. She went to the nearest faucet and turned the knob. The pipes creaked and groaned until a steady flow of water emerged from the rusting spigot.

The brunette held out her hand and smiled as the water drenched her skin. The chill of it began to numb her fingertips so she pulled her arm back and began to undress. She only got as far as removing her gun holster and placing it on the low, outward ring of an adjacent pedestal when a frequency, other than that of the failing water, vibrated her eardrums.

Alice immediately extracted a revolver from her abandoned holster, and aimed it in the direction of the noise. Her life had been saved by paranoia more than once, so she approached the offending towel rack with caution. When she was close enough she brought her empty hand up and threw back the curtain hanging from the frame. The exposed Wendell pitched up his hands in obvious surrender.

"Hey now, take it easy," the balding man pleaded.

The brunette was instantly furious, and she motioned him to move away from the rack with her firearm. "Move it."

Hands still raised, Wendell complied and said, "I'm just going to be on my way now." The spy tried to edge along one of the walls away from the gun wielding brunette, but she grabbed him by the shirt collar and couldn't keep herself from jamming the weapon under his chin. For a second she contemplated ending the pervert's life, but she was strangely confident that he would get what he deserved. Bastards like him – always did.

She let the man go, but kept the revolver trained on him, "get outta my sight."

Wendell took half a step when his eyes shifted to look behind Alice. The brunette turned abruptly, and was face to face with a creature she had never encountered before. The undead's mouth was ajar, and extending from the mangled orifice was four oily forceps that opened like a flower. Its electric blue eyes addressed her with hunger. She aimed straight for the converging point of the tentacles and didn't hesitate in pulling the trigger. The bullet entered the fiend's mouth, and blew out the back of his head in a bloody display of firepower. The creature dropped to the ground, and Wendell turned to flee, but was intercepted by another rotting undead.

Wendell's scream was muffled by the beast's forceps as they latched onto his face. His facial bones were snapped like toothpicks; even the sound was the same. Before Alice could make the conscious decision to help him, another of the modified undead ran at her. She emptied a round into its forehead, killing it, as Wendell was dragged away. The brunette turned just in time to see the man's feet eclipse the hole in a floor as he was pulled down.

Alice scanned the area for more danger, but all was still. She walked up to the hole in the tiled floor, and crouched down next to it. The chasm was just big enough for a person, gradually sloped down, and even though she looked – she couldn't see its end. From the pit the sting of warm methane burned her nostrils, so she stood and went back to the pedestals.

_Well, so much for that shower,_ Alice thought as she grabbed her leather holster.


	26. Skeptic

Chapter 26: Skeptic

"That was fast," Claire said as the brunette emerged into the southern courtyard. Chris and Angel looked up from their work to see what the redhead was taking about.

"We have a problem," Alice said as soon as she crossed the threshold of the garage.

The redhead questioned the brunette. "What is it?"

"You'll see," Alice kept her response ambiguous, and then spoke with urgency. "Angel, get the others and meet us at the shower-block."

"Yes mam," the soldier verified and set down his ratchet to leave.

Alice turned to depart as well, but Claire waited for her brother to walk around from the back of the UPV. The brunette took a few paces and noticed the younger woman's lag. A tiny prick of jealousy entered into her gut until she saw the familiar look that passed between the two. She chastised herself for wanting to monopolize all of Claire's affection, especially when it was only from the proverbial bond of siblings. Alice couldn't deny that the two had a connection, but she still wished she didn't have her back turned to the once prisoner.

The accent to the shower-block took them little time, and as the ex-project rounded the corner to the entrance she pulled out a Smith and Wesson. Behind her, the redhead placed a hand on her gun, but didn't draw it.

They walked into the sunlit room, and Alice was thankful to see that the place was empty of new threats. The rest of the survivors filled in the space behind her.

"I could not find Wendell," Angel orated to the pilot.

"You're not going to," she answered. No one questioned her, because they all knew what the statement implied.

Claire gave voice to the silent inquiry that surfaced in the minds of all when they saw the two cadavers sprawled out on the floor.

"What is that?"

"Some new kind of undead," Alice replied, "a mutation."

"How did they get in here?" Claire channeled the others again.

"That's what I wanted to show you," Alice said.

A few paces away was the chasm the undead had climbed out of. The group surrounded it, and Bennett immediately covered his nose as he complained.

"What is that smell?"

"They must have burrowed up from the sewers," Alice answered, and then was surprised to hear Luther offer up submissively.

"Wendell said he heard movement in the walls."

"Wait – so these things can just pop up anywhere?" Bennett supposed, and Kim Yong picked up on his fear.

"We have to get out of here!"

"But the UPV won't be ready for days," Angel argued.

Alice looked to Claire for approval as she spoke, "What you all do is your choice, but Claire and I are taking the tunnel." The redhead agreed with a nod, and Chris immediately spoke up protectively.

"Where Claire goes – I go."

Alice's esteem for the man grew tenfold.

Next, Angel said to the pilot, "I'm with you."

"You're fucking kidding me? There's no way in Hell I'm going down there," Bennett spat.

Alice began to explain, "No. Tunnels lead to the sewers, sewers lead to the storm drains-" but Claire finished her sentence for her.

"Storm drain leads to the sea."

Alice smiled lightly and then continued, "After that it's the _Arcadia_ for us."

The actress became eager, "You're going to _Arcadia_?"

"Yes, but it's not the haven it advertised. You're better off going your own way when we hit the coast," Alice answered. Crystal's bright mood dissipated as Luther spoke again.

"We're gonna need more firepower," he surmised, and Alice nodded in agreement. Apparently Luther was the type of dog that could not be bribed only beaten into obedience, and Alice had done it, so it was her command he pledged to follow.

"I've got you covered," Chris said. "There's a small cache in the UPV, and an armory in the basement. It's got every weapon you can dream of." It put Alice on edge to hear the man devolve another ace he had kept up his sleeve. She would confront him about it the next time they were alone.

Alice took on her role as leader with confidence, and decided to knock out two birds with one stone. "Alright, here's the plan – Chris and I will go down to the armory; Luther, you stay here and make sure nothing else climbs outta that hole," the black man nodded as Alice continued. "Angel and Claire, I want you to empty the UPV. Meet back here as soon as you're done."

Everyone confirmed, and then went to complete their assigned tasks.

Alice followed Chris at a distance until they reached the staircase leading to the basement, and discovered that it was completely flooded.

"What is this?" Alice questioned the man as the orange flame of his torch reflected off the still water.

"They had pumps to keep the water out of the foundation. When the electricity failed some of the lower levels started filling up. There's another two floors down there."

"And how far down is the armory?" Alice questioned.

"All the way," Chris smiled.

"Of course it is," she replied cynically as she pulled out a revolver and turned on Chris. She left the gun at her side, but fiddled with the trigger as she looked directly into his eyes and spoke. "I need to know right now if I can trust you."

His eyes went to her pistol in disbelief, but he offered up, "Claire trusts me."

"I'm not Claire. Why were you locked up?"

"I was a member of S.T.A.R.S. When the outbreak happened we were stationed here. I got in a _disagreement_ with a superior officer and he put me in that cell for insubordination. The city became overrun, and they left me behind."

_Harsh, _Alice thought, but his reason really didn't help his case. "Problem with authority figures, eh?"

"You could say that."

"How do you know your unit didn't clean out the armory when they left?" Alice questioned.

Chris looked down at his boots and answered solemnly. "Because by the end, there were a lot more guns than there were people to use them." It was that show of humanity that prompted his earlier comment to interrupt Alice's internal deliberation.

_Claire trusts him,_ she thought. The brunette woman brought the sidearm up and aimed for Chris's chest. He staggered backwards, and she smirked as she flipped the gun around and offered it to him.

The man took an unsteady step and reached for it. As his hand clasped around the weapon he smiled, "So now you're going to trust me with a gun?"

She echoed his words, "Claire trusts you."

They turned back to the water filled stairway, and Alice pulled out a small flashlight from her pocket. Before she could turn it on Crystal descended the stairs behind them.

Chris confronted the intruder. "Where do you think you're going?"

The actress looked around to the water at their feet, and answered, "I was a swim-champ back in High School."

"Is that right?" Chris said amused.

Alice held out her other Smith and Wesson to the actress, "Here."

Crystal took the gun, and Alice turned on her flashlight. The brunette stepped to the edge of the water, captured a breath, and jumped in feet first.


	27. Priority

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Someday I hope to...but today is not that day. Tomorrow isn't looking good either.**

* * *

Chapter 27: Priority

Alice was never big on swimming, or at least being completely submerged in water. It tended to remind her of waking up naked inside the tank in the Umbrella lab in Detroit, and then rousing every one of her clones from their aqueous solution outside of Vegas.

The water was dark, but her flashlight illuminated small air bubbles, and other bits and pieces of floating debris as she continued forward. She saw a door in front of her, and painted on the wall above it was **STAIRS**. Alice pulled on the handle. The oxygen in her lungs had been wholly converted into carbon-dioxide nearly a minute ago, and it caused her claustrophobia to augment. She opened the door, and came upon the staircase that led upwards and hopefully to an air pocket. Her insides burned as the urge to inhale grew stronger with every passing second.

Alice's head broke the water and she gasped at the stale air. Her dizziness dissipated with each deep breath she consumed. Chris surfaced next, and choked as he expelled liquid from his lungs; then took winded breaths just like Alice. The actress wasn't far behind, but she rose from the water with practiced ease.

The brunette woman felt a little ridiculous for being shown up by Crystal. _At least I don't look as bad as Chris,_ she thought and walked up the stairs with the other two close behind her. She flashed her light down the hallway, and it fell on a door with a sign above it that read **ARMORY**. _I'm liking all these signs, _Alice thought, _makes this a lot easier._ It also meant that she didn't have to rely on the former S.T.A.R.S. member, but Alice wasn't going to admit that. Almost as if in response to her optimism the water bubbled and rippled silently behind them.

Chris withdrew a flare from a pocket in his vest, cracked it, and threw it to the door. The resulting vermilion light canceled out the need for Alice's flashlight, so she put it away, unsheathed the kodachi sword resting between her shoulder blades, and smoothed her dripping hair back.

"Alright, let's go," Chris said, but right as he finished Crystal screamed.

Alice and Chris jerked around to see the actress get snatched by the forceps of a modified-undead. Crystal struggled, causing Alice's gun to fly out of her hand and land next to Chris, but it dragged her beneath the swirling water anyways as another fiend materialized.

Its mouth was already opened and poised to devour, but Alice jammed her blade down its gurgling throat and lodged it right into the back of the undead's skull. As the creature fell back into the water her sword was wrenched from her grip. _Damn it, _she thought. If there was one thing that annoyed her more than anything else it was losing weapons, but this time it couldn't be helped. She'd embedded the sword too deeply, and she was not about to go in after it.

Once the excitement passed the water calmed again, and Chris bent down to retrieve Alice's fallen gun. Alice wasn't sure exactly what Crystal had meant to him, so she gave the generic response.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be," the man declared, "to be honest – Claire's life is the only one that matters to me."

"Then you and I have the same priorities," Alice said, and Chris seemed to contemplate his response as well as the surrendering of her second revolver.

"Hm, but perhaps by extension I should watch your back too." The man offered her the gun in his upturned palm. "She's quite fond of you, you know?"

"I guess that should go both ways," she said as she took the weapon. The two shared a meaningful smile, and Alice wondered if the redhead knew she was so loved.

The murky water churned again, but this time Alice and Chris were ready. They stood side by side each holding their pistol steady as the water erupted with undead. A wave of seven creatures ran at them. The fighters walked backwards as they opened fire. Alice decimated the right flank with three bullets, and Chris gunned down the left leaving the middle fiend to gain ground.

They both turned their weapons on the last creature at the same moment, but neither fired as it rushed them. Alice said to Chris quickly, "You gonna shoot?" It seemed that neither wanted to be the one who was a bullet down.

"Ladies first," he said rushed.

"Oh what a _gentleman_," Alice scoffed as she pulled the trigger on the last undead right before its forceps reached her. The mass fell and she had to sidestep to avoid it landing on her feet.

The water surged with the coming of more undead, and Alice was done wasting ammo and time.

"Let's go," she said, and they both sprinted the last few yards to the armory. She opened the reinforced door; more than thankful that it wasn't locked, and was inside the dark space with Chris on her heels. They both strained to push the door closed as the horde of undead struggled to get in. Once it was shut all the light from Chris's first flare vanished, so he pulled out another and cracked it.

The red-orange shine reflected off the metal of countless weapons. Racks in the center of the space were filled to the max, and guns covered every inch of wall available. That was the one thing Alice missed about being a security operative – gun selection. The possibilities here made her nod in satisfied approval.

"Nice," she said. The question now wasn't what she wanted to take most, but what she wanted to leave behind the least.

Chris chuckled lightly and said, "I thought you might like it." He handed Alice back her revolver, and moved to fill a large duffle bag.

_First things first,_ Alice thought as she reloaded her Smith and Wessons.

After that Alice helped Chris pack up sufficient weapons, ammo, and explosives without a problem, but the issue of how to leave the armory was upon them.

"There must be a hundred of them out there by now," Chris stated and a hint of anticipation lilted his words. Alice looked at the man, and raised an eyebrow as she tried to keep her smile subtle. Chris saw right through it with a bloodlust driven grin of his own, and purposefully took hold of an assault rifle. Claire may have found her brother, but Alice found someone who appreciated the fight as much as she did.

Alice ran her fingers over the loaded MP-9 machine pistol in her hand. It was the same kind of gun her clones had used, and for good reason; it had the fire power of a rifle-sized submachine gun, but the weight of a pistol, an efficient killing machine.

The ex-project considered the tactics they could use to ensure their victory in light of the coming bloodshed. The second they opened the door the undead would attack, but the small entranceway would cause them to funnel making them easy targets. Her line of thought was interrupted suddenly by the subdued roar of a machine.

"You hear that?" Chris asked, and they both looked up in the direction of the noise. It was coming from an air duct in the ceiling.

"Mother-fucker!" Alice cursed as she realized what the sound was. "New plan – we're taking the vent."


	28. Still Alive

Chapter 28: Still Alive

Alice and Chris only traveled in the ventilation system until they passed the flooded floors. The man shifted the full duffle bag on his shoulder as it knocked against the assault rifle on his back, while the brunette woman carried the pack they had crammed with explosives. They took to the stairs at breakneck speed. The two came onto the roof to see Bennett at the controls of the airplane, and Kim Yong standing behind it.

It really didn't matter to the brunette that Bennett was stealing her plane. _Would've been nice to have been asked, _she thought sarcastically. Suddenly the man in the suit noticed Chris and Alice's presence on the roof, and brought up a pistol.

"Oh shit!" Chris said as he and Alice ducked down behind a large roof vent in front of them while the thief fired. Luckily for them Bennett was a lousy shot, but Alice had no idea why he was even shooting at them in the first place. The ex-project counted three shots, and then heard Claire's voice immediately prompting her to draw a revolver and break cover to keep his attention away from the redhead.

"Open this door!" Claire demanded, and Alice could only assume she was talking to Angel or Luther.

At the brunette's emergence, gun aimed directly at the thief, Bennett rushed to close the airplane's windshield and take off. Alice's diversion was a success, but she still wondered if she should fire. The propellers buffeted the air as they moved the craft forward.

The end of the line was fast approaching for the Bennett. Alice watched the moving plane, and noticed that Claire and Angel had filled the space next to her followed by Chris and Kim Yong. They all ran after Bennett when his stolen plane fell off the edge of the prison.

"Ha-ha, take that!" Angel yelled down at the falling aircraft, and Alice was surprised to hear such animosity from the soldier.

Right before the plane would have crashed into the countless undead below, it leveled out, but still managed to construct mincemeat out of the undead on the ground leaving a bloody trail in its wake until it gained enough altitude to clear the horde.

Angel sneered in frustration as Bennett flew west towards the shore and Alice shook her head.

"He's headed for the _Arcadia _– idiot," she said.

The soldier faced Alice with Bennett's shortcomings as Claire moved hastily to the duffle bag at Chris's feet.

"He killed Luther," the soldier said, and his previous hostility was explained.

"What – why?" Alice asked stunned.

It was Kim Yong who answered timidly, "Lu-Luther was going to make him take the tunnel. Bennett just snapped. I'm so sorry."

"That's not all," Claire stated as she continued to prep a submachine gun. "The south-gate was breached by some – _thing _with an axe. The undead are going to be on us any second."

Alice had hardly any time to absorb the redhead's words, because the stairs had become clogged with undead and they spilled onto the roof from an entranceway ahead of them.

"Alice!" Claire got the brunette's attention as she tossed her the weapon. The ex-project caught it deftly and sprayed the mass with lead. Chris managed to bring his assault rifle up, and began to gun down the nearest undead. The soldier and Claire were the next to add their bullets to the suppression.

The undead horde was so thick that the survivors couldn't move from their position on the edge of the rooftop, but it became horribly apparent that they needed to. Alice looked around and saw an embedded elevator to her left. The structure was their best option at the moment.

Alice was nearly out of bullets so she shouted to the others as she ran. "Come on!"

They all made for the elevator. Claire and Angel kept up their fire as Alice went straight to the duffle bag Chris had just dropped from his shoulder. The ex-project grabbed the MP9 she had loaded earlier, and went back to the front line with Chris on her heels. They set up next to each other and continued to keep the undead at bay. The corpses were beginning to pile offering them somewhat of a barricade that caused the infected to stumble and lose momentum.

Chris saw an opportunity to line up a double kill-shot; he aimed and at the right moment pulled the trigger.

"Ha! Two with one bullet, beat that Alice!" he bragged.

The brunette grinned mischievously as she reached behind her back and pulled out a timed explosive.

"Everyone get back!" Alice commanded as she flipped the ignition switch, and threw it into the back of the horde. The survivors ran behind the cover of the outreaching concrete. The brunette used her own body to shield Claire though she was already relatively well protected from the coming detonation. Alice put her hands on the wall above the redhead's shoulders to keep her pressed against it. The intimate position left little space between their bodies and Alice relished in the feeling. She almost moved in to kiss Claire full on the lips forgetting the dangerous situation, but the explosion brought her back to the present as it wreaked havoc.

The blast registered in Claire's ears, and she thought she could feel the fire seep its way through the hard cement at her back. A moment before she would have sworn Alice was going to kiss her, and she'd hoped for it. She saw the brunette open her mouth to speak to Chris who was hunched down next to them, but her ears were filled with a loud ring that didn't allow her to hear anything else, so she read Alice's lips.

"Top that."

"What is _wrong_ with you two? This is not a competition!" Claire yelled louder than necessary because she couldn't hear herself speak.

Alice and Chris looked like two children that had just been scolded, but the redhead had a point. It was time to stop messing around. The ex-project released Claire from the wall, and walked away from the elevator drawing the undead to her as she fired upon them. The ringing the younger woman had been subjected to dissipated, and she could hear every shot the taller woman made.

"Head to the shower block," Alice said and Claire was about to argue against the brunette's obvious attempt at sacrifice, but Alice subdued her. "I'll meet you there."

Kim Yong went to the controls and shouted, "This thing has no power!"

Alice pulled out another charge from her pack and Chris read her intent. "We won't need power."

Angel pulled the gate down on the elevator, and Alice armed the devise then chucked it on top of the elevator. The brunette started to run as everyone inside the structure pressed themselves to the floor. The detonation tore through the pulley system, and sent the elevator on its rapid descent.

Alice was hit by the blast from behind; she staggered but managed to stay up right. The cable that had saved her plane when she landed was resting broken at her feet. She followed it with her eyes and saw that it was still tied off. The brunette armed another five-second charge, put it back inside her bag and picked up the cable quickly. She lopped it once through her belt and held it securely with her free hand. She made a break for the edge of the building as she threw down her machine pistol and pulled the pack off her shoulder to drop it behind her. New undead joined the ones that had survived the explosions. They followed their target without the slightest hesitation as Alice neared the boundary of the towering prison.

Her heart skipped a beat as she placed a booted foot onto the raised edge and jumped off the building. She was thankful that Claire wasn't around to see this particular stunt. For the longest time Alice played with her life like it was a game. She constantly challenged herself to do it bigger; do it better. The redhead was wrong – it was a competition – it was Alice against the world. And every day she fought to find that adrenaline to prove to herself that she was _still alive_.

The air stung her eyes as she fell and caused them to water, but she refused to close them. The shockwave from the compounded explosions rushed past her as the slack in the cable ran out. The cord was almost yanked from her grip, but she held on and was swung around the side of the prison to an outreaching courtyard packed with undead. At the right moment she released the cable, snatched her revolvers, shelled out a couple rounds to clear the immediate area, and tucked herself to roll into the landing.

She rose in a fluid motion and the undead tightened the circle around her. _Eight shots left, _the ex-project mentally kept track of the rounds in her dually-wielded guns. She fired at the undead closest to her. _Six. _Two more infected collapsed the ground. _Four. _Alice turned around to kill the undead at her back. _Two. _There were too many, the brunette was about to be overrun with no time to reload, and the only back up weapons on her person would be no match for the horde.

The brunette contemplated if this was the end, it couldn't be, but she was surrounded and outmatched. _Claire, _before Alice could really think about what she would leave behind Chris stayed true to his word.

"Alice!" Chris shouted as he punched a hole through the undead with his assault rifle from a doorway. The opening was just slim enough for Alice to run through. Infected moved in to cut her off, so she brought up her revolvers and unloaded the last two bullets into their heads. _Empty, _the brunette thought, but two more creatures were on a path to intercept her. She regrettably threw her revolvers behind her and un-holstered her double-barreled shotguns in a single action.

The ex-project wrapped her pointer-fingers around the forward most triggers and aimed for the two undead in her way. She fired into the infected and from such a close range the quarters tore massive holes through their torsos, not only severing the spines, but completely removing multiple vertebrae in the process.

The coins continued on their route, and embedded themselves into a few undead nearby as well as the walls on either side of Chris. He threw up his arms to defend himself but was spared from the onslaught. Alice was almost to him so he jumped up and grabbed the gate above him using his body weight to bring it down. The brunette slid feet first beneath the closing entry with just inches to spare.

The former S.T.A.R.S. member gave her hand up and they both laughed with relief.

"That was close," the brunette stated.

"You alright?" Chris asked concerned.

Alice gave him a friendly smile. "Fine, thanks," she nodded in appreciation.


	29. The Sentence

Chapter 29: The Sentence

Alice worked on reloading her shotguns with two quarter-filled slugs as she and Chris made their way to the others. Just as Alice was re-holstering the last weapon she saw Luther's corpse next to the tunnel. He had been killed execution style, and blood poured from a bullet hole in his head and the liquid trickled down the chasm. The brunette stood next to Claire and the other survivors, anxious to get going.

"I'll take point," Chris stated and lowered himself into the hole.

"I've got your back," Angel said and followed after Chris.

The redhead turned to Kim Yong beside her and said, "you're next."

The man shook his head in fear. "I can't do it."

"You can." Claire tried to reassure him, but Alice had no patience for his apprehension.

"Let's go!" The brunette yelled and suddenly Kim Yong was sliced in half from the space between his shoulder and neck; he fell to the ground in two completely separated pieces. Alice and Claire both turned to face their attacker.

It wasn't the creature's massive stature, the nails sticking out of his rancid flesh, the black apron and scarlet gloves he wore like a butcher, or the burlap sack over his head void of even eyeholes – what caught Alice's attention first was his accessory. He bore with two hands a saw-toothed axe topped with a hammer textured to pulverize. The imposing weapon was a fierce combination, and the brunette couldn't decide which end she would want to be hit with less. _Maybe I should just avoid getting hit altogether,_ Alice thought and laughed internally.

The ex-project went into action without trepidation. She spin-kicked into the air and struck the colossus in the face with her booted foot, but his head hardly registered the hit. It was going to take a lot to bring this threat down, but Alice wondered if he would be any match for the Washington's that awaited him in the chambers of her double-barrels.

Before the brunette could draw her guns, the beast used a combination of gravity and strength to bring the hammer-end down to crush her. She sidestepped out of the way, and the weapon smashed a urinal behind her. He was much faster than she had anticipated. The undead was already recovered from the failed blow and muscling out another. He came at her horizontally, clipping a tiled wall as she dove out of the way.

Alice landed on her back as small chunks of concrete fell on top of her. The dust caused her to sputter, and blurred her vision as it got into her eyes. She could just barely make out the downswing of the axe and moved to avoid it. Alice rolled herself to a standing position and was finally able to pull out her shotguns, but her clouded sight caused her to misjudge the amount of time she had before the next strike.

The hammer-end came at her from the right, collided with her side, and knocked her into the wall a few feet away. Alice's head struck the solid divide, and she was instantly dazed. She fell to the ground and one of her 12 gauges was jerked from her grip. The brunette struggled to keep her eyes open; the last thing she saw was the jagged blade of the axe being hoisted above the burlap-covered face. In her confusion Alice dimly wondered if this was her execution. She had been judged, and he was here to carry out her sentence. _It's no less than I deserve, _Alice thought, but she heard gunfire; then felt the remnants of her consciousness slip away.

The redhead unloaded the rest of her clip into the back of the brute's head, and it caused him to refocus his attention. Claire was outright relieved that she had spared Alice from the beast's wrath, but now it was turned on her. He came at her with a sweeping blow and she ducked beneath it. The axe sliced through shower pipe behind her, and a jet of water sprang from the severed channel.

Claire saw the undead ready another swing, so she ran for the back of the shower room. Her sprint was hindered by the constant need to look over her shoulder to evade the hatchet. The colossus swung again narrowly missing the redhead, but cutting into another pipe. She dropped her handgun, without the time to reload it was useless. Claire glanced behind her as she did so and ducked a third, and then a fourth swing that resulted in two more broken and gushing shower conduits. The cold water fell on them both like rain, and soaked Claire to her very skin.

There was no where left for her to run, but she didn't stop her sprint in the slightest. In front of her was a bench and after that a wall lined with inset windows. The wet material hindered Claire's movement only slightly as she used her left foot to jump up the bench and the other to rocket herself off the window ledge. She flipped backwards over the creature and tried to land on her feet, but her right boot lost its traction on the watery floor. Her foot slipped behind her so she had to catch herself with her hand.

Claire looked up from her crouched position to see the fiend twist around to face her. She stood up and started to walk backwards. The redhead wasn't sure what her next move was going to be. She couldn't evade him forever and Alice was still unconscious; then she remembered the brunette's fallen shotgun. It was resting in the water only a couple of yards away in between her and the creature.

She ran straight for the brute as he charged her. He brought his cleaver up for an overhead swing, and Claire dropped to slide between his legs. The redhead extended her arm to grab the shotgun and brought it up. She pulled the foremost trigger right before she passed beneath him and her momentum kept her moving. The quarter-filled shot blew right through his torso, and he fell to his knees, and then onto his stomach. The coins rattled as they hit the ground alongside the beast.

Claire left the shotgun on the floor and rose after hearing the fiend's axe topple down. She turned and sighed with relief when she saw that the undead was lying motionless. Water continued to pour from the broken pipes, and Claire smiled as she saw the brunette begin to rise with one shotgun still tightly clenched in her hand. But suddenly Alice wasn't the only one recovering from paralysis. The redhead's attention shifted back onto the brute as he brought back his arms to lift himself off the ground.

The fiend ascended only to his knees and pulled back his axe to throw it at the redhead. The ex-project, still dizzy from her encounter with the wall, tried to flex her mental powers and deflect the weapon. The axe continued to flip end over end and the pressure in Alice's head that usually accompanied her psychic will never surfaced. It was then that she recalled her limitations with panic, and sprinted the few feet to Claire.

The redhead cried out; not for herself but for Alice who was now also in the path of the coming axe. They each grabbed desperately for the other and doubled over as one to escape the saw-toothed edge of the cleaver. Claire could feel the wind from the axe as it passed over them and embedded itself into the wall.

They righted themselves, and Alice turned while bringing up her shotgun. She aimed for the brute's head, and pulled back on both triggers firing each of the side by side barrels, which doubled the recoil. The force rocked her arm, but it had the desired effect. The coins exploded the fiend's head into chunks of crimson flesh and fragments of white, shattered skull. The headless corpse dropped to the floor a second time, and the brunette was certain he wouldn't be rising any time soon.

With the creature's defeat Alice and Claire turned back to look at the axe that had nearly claimed both of their lives. The taller woman shook her head lightly in disbelief as Claire grinned beside her.


	30. Guardian

Chapter 30: Guardian

The two women were both soaking wet from the cold water that continued to fall around them and it jump-started the redhead's memory.

"Well at least you got that shower you wanted," Claire quipped as mirth danced around her eyes.

Alice laughed once and immediately dropped her shotgun to clench her side in pain. Her tensing muscles screamed at what felt like a dull knife being thrust into her abs that sliced around, then twisted upwards towards her shoulder, and stopped at her nerve-damaged spine.

"You're hurt!" The redhead exclaimed and moved to help the taller woman.

With Claire supporting her on her right side, Alice's adrenaline continued to ebb allowing her crushed nerves to flood with pain, and for a second it felt like she was going to be sick. She took a shallow breath as she tried to mentally overcome the hurt.

Alice probed her ribs cautiously to access the damage. Her fingers settled on the middle of her ribcage – the area causing her the most distress. She knew from experience that broken ribs felt a lot like bruised ribs; she prayed for the latter. If any ribs were broken or splintered they could pierce her lung resulting in its collapse, and her early death. She felt her bones once more for any disconformities as Claire became alarmed.

"How bad is it?"

Alice didn't want to worry the redhead with the possibilities. "It'll take a while to heal, but I'll be fine," she tried to reassure her lover, but there was no calming her.

"Oh god, if I'd just done something sooner! Or-"

"Hey," Alice interrupted Claire with a hand on her cheek. "Leave the self-berating and regrets to me. You saved my life."

Claire smiled dimly after being reminded of her accomplishment and said, "I guess I did, didn't I? Glad I could return the favor."

The redhead helped Alice over to the tunnel; then left the brunette to stand on her own so she could collect the fallen guns. She picked up her pistol first, reloaded it, and then grabbed Alice's shotguns.

The pain in the brunette's right side amplified without Claire's support, but so long as she kept her breaths shallow it could be pushed to the back of her mind. The younger woman returned Alice's weapons one at a time, and the taller woman reloaded each and placed them in the empty holsters on her back. Lifting the double-barrels over her shoulder made her want to grimace, but she kept the reaction at bay.

"Alright, after you," Alice said to the younger woman as she nodded to the tunnel.

"You're sure you're fine?"

_I have to be, _Alice thought and wanted to say, but she chose instead, "I'm sure." Now was no time to be an invalid; they were about to embark on a hazardous rescue mission with no time for respite. _Ain't no rest for the wicked, how cliché. _Just then Claire closed the distance between them and brought her wet lips to Alice's. The taller woman forgot all about the pain and the weariness it instilled in her with the warmth that radiated from the contact.

When the redhead finally pulled away the taller woman was forced to ask, "What was that for?"

"I need a reason?"

"No." Alice smiled as she shook her head. Claire was a better painkiller than morphine. She was also the kind of addiction the brunette would willingly submit to, and right about now she was craving for another fix. She initiated a second kiss that left her feeling as blissful as the first.

After the intimacy, Claire withdrew a flashlight as she prepared to crawl down the tunnel. The descent was a bit steep at first but it began to level out and widened slightly. The redhead couldn't tell if she'd been crawling for seconds or minutes when the tunnel opened up into a small sewer. The drop wasn't far, and when her feet connected with the ground she heard a noise to her left. She turned and Angel's face was illuminated dramatically by her flashlight. Claire startled and the soldier held a finger to his lips to silence her.

"We found a way out further down," Angel said as he pointed behind Claire's shoulder in the cramped space. "It drops into a storm drain. You can go, I'll wait for Alice."

The redhead nodded and continued on. It was just like the solider had promised; another hole connected the sewer to the storm drain, but this time the space to the floor was easily twelve feet. Claire saw the beam of Chris's flashlight and jumped into her brother's arms.

"Knew you'd make it." Chris smiled with affection and released the younger woman, but then his tone became serious. "It took you long enough and -" the man felt the water on his hands and looked at Claire, "why are you wet?"

The redhead chuckled at Chris's scolding. It was just like when they were younger – after the accident. The redhead would come home from school almost every day to see Chris standing in the foyer, arm extended, and almost every day she would grin as she handed over a note her teacher had given her to present to her brother and guardian. The slips always said things like: '_Claire is a constant disruption to the learning environment. Might I suggest that she puts her excess energy towards a more productive means of expression._' Chris would scowl and ask what she had done this time; the majority of her 'excess energy' involved incidents with superglue, freed classroom pets, and other feats of petty mischief.

It wasn't until Claire was a sophomore in high school that she pulled the prank she would forever be known by and Chris realized that maybe he did need to take a more active role in his sister's life. The young redhead had stolen her principal's car, disassembled it, and completely reassembled it in the cafeteria of the school all on her own. When the siblings met in the principal's office that morning, he tried so hard not to show his pride and amusement. The principal agreed not to press charges against the delinquent girl if Chris promised to take his responsibilities as sole guardian more seriously. It was that event that earned Claire the nickname 'gear-head' amongst her classmates, and caused Chris to take her on their first trip to the gun range. The redhead took to her brother's guidance with enthusiasm. Target practice, rebuilding a motorcycle, and occasional evenings spent doing homework together took place when school let out, right until the day of Claire's graduation and Chris's acceptance into S.T.A.R.S.

"Alice didn't want to leave without getting a shower," the redhead smiled in the dim light as she shrugged.

Chris was about to ask just what was going on between her and Alice, but then the brunette in question appeared at the mouth of the hole. She readied herself to jump down and the man brought his arms to catch up her, but suddenly Claire moved to intercept her instead. Chris watched off to the side as Alice dropped from the gap and staggered into the redhead's arms. If not for the brunette's light stumble, Chris would have missed noticing that the taller woman seemed to be in pain, and if not for Claire's hand on the small of her back, Chris would still be at a loss to describe his sister's relationship with the pilot.

Angel was next at the mouth of the hole, but before he could join the others Alice heard the sound of shifting rocks. The three turned their flashlights up to see the opening fill with rubble and seal quickly.

Alice shouted, "Angel!" The brunette was still awaiting an answer from the soldier when Claire broke the silence.

"You can't help him now," she said softly.

Alice looked wistfully at the clogged opening one more time and realized that the younger woman was right. She'd only known the soldier for a day, but she had felt a connection with him; that's what being around people in stressful situations did to you. No matter how aloof Alice tried to be, her relationship with Claire had opened the floodgates to her core, where emotions like empathy and remorse stirred without relent. The redhead brought her hand up again and placed it on the taller woman's arm.

"We have to move on."

The pain in the brunette's side flared up when she took a purposeful stride away from Claire's touch and her words. But something the young woman had said stuck in her mind. _'We,'_ Alice thought. Yes, Claire had said 'we' before, but this time was different. This time it was spoken to remind Alice that she didn't have to be alone anymore; that she wasn't alone anymore.

The redhead was an immense source of strength for Alice, as well as a weakness, and Claire would be her undoing – of that there was no doubt.


	31. Fixed

Chapter 31: Fixed

Already the stench of the sewer was being washed away by the saturated ocean air as Alice, Claire, and Chris made for the light at the end of the storm drain. The brunette woman really did not feel well about boarding the _Arcadia _without the arsenal she and Chris had gathered, but it couldn't be helped. She still had her shotguns, Chris had an assault rifle and a pistol, and Claire had her pistol and knife.

The tunnel gave way to a sandy beach and Alice thought wistfully back to her second first kiss with Claire. She wondered if the redhead remembered their first. It was a memory Alice would not soon forget. The fact that Claire had kissed her with absolutely no warning or prompt whatsoever still made the brunette smile. That night, her lover had claimed that she couldn't think of anything else to entice the sun-bleached blonde into her bed; she simply had to have Alice and that was damn good enough for them both. Sex and comfort those days were hard to come by, and as beautiful strangers they each gave to the other what they themselves craved until they were strangers no more.

Alice combed the misty beach for a boat. There were a few that had run aground on the shore, but they seemed to be in complete disrepair. She kept looking, and in the distance a wooden dock went out to sea. Tethered to it was a small dark vessel bobbing in the waves.

"Let's check this one out," Alice said and they all walked to it. The boat's design was blocky, the hull was lined with tires to be used as a cheap fender, and its grey and maroon paint was corroding away. It was easily the ugliest watercraft she had ever seen, but so long as it was working she wouldn't look a gift-boat in the mouth.

Chris found keys in the ignition as Alice took the fuel cap off. She couldn't see if the tank held fuel and the deep fog made the air so saturated that she couldn't smell the familiar burn of gasoline, so she dipped her finger inside and was met with a liquid, she only hoped it was petrol. The brunette rubbed her finger with her thumb, the liquid was less viscous than water, but she smelled the substance to be sure and the insides of her nostrils burned with the fumes.

She exhaled sharply through her nose and said, "we've got fuel." Alice replaced the fuel cap and wiped her fingers on her pants to get the excess fluid off. Chris turned the key to start the engine; it turned over twice before it started up.

"And we've got power," Chris stated as he took the wheel.

Claire began to untie them from the dock and Alice sat on the left side of the boat. To redress the balance the younger woman took a seat on the opposite ledge as Chris opened the machine up. They cut through the waves less like a knife and more like the block of wood they were actually in. The ride from then on was quiet, and Alice looked on in apprehension as the fog hid and then revealed the ghost ship they planned to board.

The breeze created from the moving vessel dried Alice's clothes and hair to the point that they were only just damp, and she knew it was the same for Claire because her red hair was being lifted in the wind. The brunette could've stared at her lover forever. She felt such a connection with the woman even though they'd technically only known each other for a hand full of days. Alice ingrained the image of Claire tugging on the collar of her red vest into her mind, trying to make another memory that she could take with her no matter where the journey ahead of them led.

Chris maneuvered the boat next to a small dock attached to the _Arcadia_. Claire tied up the vessel as Alice jumped onto the port and held her hand out for the redhead to take. She did so and used it to steady herself as she joined Alice. The brunette held her hand out for Chris as well and he took it with a light scowl.

It wasn't that he didn't approve Claire and Alice's relationship; if Claire was happy then so was he but she would always be his little sister, and disliking whoever your sister was dating just came with the territory.

Alice was up the stairs to the deck first, followed by Claire and Chris. The topside was completely barren except for Alice's smoking plane.

"No welcome party, hu?" Chris stated and Alice nodded to the downed aircraft.

"Looks like Bennett made it," the brunette said slightly annoyed.

Chris spoke again, "let's check inside."

The two women followed him below deck and they searched the crew quarters together; moved onto the mess hall and then made their way to the command center. Every place was devoid of life, but the evacuation was recent and rushed.

"Where is everyone?" Claire asked desperately. Alice shook her head and moved over to the radio. She pressed play and the familiar transmission sounded.

"_This is _Arcadia-_" _

The brunette cut off the playback and looked at the ships controls. The fuel needle was at about 80 percent maximum and all the lights designating the condition of the engines were green.

"Fuel, power – everything's running normally," she said.

Chris was standing by a computer screen when he called the two over, "look at this. It's the ship's log. The crew launched the lifeboats three days ago."

"Exactly when the transmission stopped," Alice reported.

Chris punched a few keys and continued, "but it says that are still 2,000 survivors on board."

_2,000? _Alice thought and looked at Claire who returned her gaze with uncertainty.

"We have to search every inch of this ship," the redhead commanded.

Alice and Chris nodded in agreement and the three set out to explore the hold behind the crew quarters. They walked down a large, dark hallway with flashlights out. There was a turn in the corridor and suddenly the passageway stopped at a closed door. Alice looked at the door and met a daunting white and red Umbrella logo staring her in the face.

_Will I never be free of this? _Alice questioned with disdain. Claire had told her that it was Umbrella behind the ship; she hadn't wanted to believe it but now she was forced to. As the three approached it, the door opened and they shined their flashlights inside until the room's lights flared up one at a time, illuminating the massive, stark-white space. The entire area was empty except for a small pedestal nearby.

"Where is everybody?" Chris asked. "I don't understand."

Alice looked around the room as she put her flashlight away, then she noticed that floor was lined with grooves and a pattern became apparent.

"I think I do. They're underneath are feet."

Claire walked up to the pedestal and picked up the electronic devise that was resting on it. The computer panel came to life in her hands and people's bios, stats, and an image of their face appeared on the screen. The redhead scrolled through them and said, "they're holding survivors to experiment on them…look, it's K-mart! She's here."

Alice picked up on the hopefulness in her lover's words, but she couldn't find the optimism within herself. "Bring them up – all of them."

The redhead hit a few buttons on the touch screen and Alice heard the hiss of pressurized air being released. The panels began to rise slowly, revealing people dressed in all white; unconscious but standing in the clear, numbered cylinders. Claire walked away from her brother and Alice, but they both followed her. The woman stopped at a canister, relief in her eyes.

"Here she is," Claire said. "K-mart."

"Get her out," Alice responded as she looked at the teenager. K-mart was dressed exactly like the others; wires were attached to her head and hands, and the scarlet spider, just like the one she'd found on Claire, stood out against its all white surroundings. It was more than probable that K-mart would suffer from amnesia like the redhead had. Claire was back to working the panel in her hands when the teenager's cell opened and she fell out.

Alice reached her arms out to catch her, and the movement of being caught caused K-mart to wake and begin struggle against the person holding her. The brunette couldn't keep them both up without aggravating her tender ribs so she let them both slide to the floor, and Claire was instantly at their side.

"K-mart! It's ok!" she tried to comfort the thrashing teen. "It's ok! K-mart, it's alight." The blonde girl stilled for a moment as Claire put her arms around the teen's shoulders. Alice watched their eyes meet and for the first time she realized that Claire finally felt complete since she had lost her memories. She didn't really understand how she knew, but she was certain that her lover now had everything she wanted. "I'll get this thing off her," Claire referenced the bug on K-mart's chest and handed Alice the computer panel as she finished, "go let everyone else out." The brunette took hold of the devise and stood up as she heard Claire say to the teen, "we're your friends and right now we need your help. Let me get this off you."

Alice couldn't watch Claire pull off the spider so she turned around and saw that a couple of the cylinders further down, instead of holding survivors, were coated in blood. The ex-project itched to have a revolver in her hand, but she settled for putting the computer panel down and walking over to explore them. Bits of torn skin and flesh were caked into the coagulated liquid on the glass. Whoever had been inside was certainly dead, but it seemed that they had struggled first. A blood trail weaved its way past a few more containers and to another set of doors. _What am I up against? _Alice wondered. For a brief moment she considered what would happen if she tried to recreate the inception of her super-human abilities. Would the T-virus affect her the way it did before? Would it take just one bite like the Red Queen had told her all those years ago? The line of thought was born of fear, and Alice fought to overcome it. _Am I good enough? _Doubt would do her no good, and it wouldn't keep Claire safe. The brunette thought back to the redhead who had been reunited with the family she'd been born into and the family she'd created; Alice tilted her head down in determination as she walked through the opening doors.

The next space was a hanger, full of Ospreys like the one she'd crashed in with Wesker outside of Tokyo. There were four black tiltrotor machines in all, and with each one she passed her mindset grew stronger until she came upon another door. When it finally opened her resolution was fixed.


	32. The Score

Chapter 32: The Score

The next room had the makings of a lab where five emancipated corpses lay on individual tables. Alice had no doubt that they were part of the experimenting that had taken place on the ship. Behind the cadavers was a large glass panel displaying random electronic readouts. As Alice passed the bodies she looked at one on her right. The pale figure was dressed in white like the rest of Umbrella's captives, but a single black form, almost like a tentacle, was wrapped around the torso; it crossed over the bellybutton and then sprouted off into five different directions creeping around to the corpse's backside.

_What is that? _she questioned. Whatever it was had certainly killed the man but she couldn't be bothered with it now. Alice continued on and she approached the computer screen it began to lift, revealing another like it. As she passed beneath the first it became apparent that something was behind the next one. The final glass panel rose and Alice saw black boots, a black leather jacket, and finally black sunglasses. The figure exposed was Wesker and the brunette's nostrils flared as she looked at him sitting proudly on his white throne.

"Why am I not surprised?" she questioned with sarcasm.

"You weren't too hard to find. Our satellite system is still operational, and there aren't many people flying now a days. Besides, I always knew you'd be drawn to your friends. Loyalty – highly overrated," he sneered.

_Trying to find me? _The only justification Alice could think of was that Wesker wanted to get revenge; that was just fine. She could use a little vengeance.

The clicking of nails on tile drew Alice's focus as two undead Dobermans jogged out from behind Wesker's chair. The brunette un-holstered her shotguns as they growled at her, readying to charge.

"Stop," Wesker commanded the dogs and they froze in place. Alice had no idea how he'd gained control over them and she wondered if they weren't completely infected with the T-virus. "Down," Wesker said and the animals sat. "Wouldn't want you harming my pets," he reasoned and Alice lifted an eyebrow as she agreeably aimed her guns at the man instead.

Suddenly Bennett appeared from behind and threatened her with a pistol.

"Drop your guns," he demanded.

For now, Alice had no choice to but to do as he said. She let her firearms drop to her sides and allowed them to fall to the floor.

"Thank you."

_He's finally learned some damn manners, _the brunette smirked as she thought.

"Kick them to me," he continued.

The brunette forced them backwards with a booted foot as she kept her eyes on Wesker.

"Good," Bennett said, and now that she was unarmed, Alice turned to look at the producer.

His face was sweaty and pale; it was obvious that he was going through some T-virus initiated change. The woman rolled her shoulder as she turned back to Wesker and commented, "you don't look so good, Bennett."

"Yeah, well I'm looking forward to fuckin' with your pretty face."

Alice let the pathetic threat go with an unfazed smile.

"What do you want with me?" she questioned and Wesker answered.

"The T-virus brought me back, but it's so _strong_. It-" Wesker's speech was interrupted as he doubled over in his white throne. Alice watched as his shoulders moved and shuddered in ways that were not humanly possible.

When his convulsions stilled a moment later, Wesker righted himself, and then felt the side of his face and neck drawing Alice's gaze. Embedded in his pale flesh was a sickly-looking, black, bulging tentacle that crept up the edge of his jaw to his ear like a shadow.

The brunette woman smiled as she confronted him smugly.

"Seems to me you're having a little difficulty keeping _face_."

Wesker sneered in contempt and kept talking. "I thought if I took in fresh DNA I could redress the balance."

"No wonder your crew jumped ship," Alice snickered.

"No matter; now I have a new subordinate, and a new plan. You were the only one who successfully bonded with the T-virus. Your DNA is stronger than the others. I ingest you – I gain control." Wesker lifted his chin in superiority and the dark tentacle shifted again unnaturally.

_My blood – of course, _Alice thought. As long as she was alive the anomalies in her blood would be the question and the answer.

"There's only one problem with your plan," she said as she sauntered off towards a pedestal that had on it the tools used to dissect the cadavers in the room.

Bennett tried to threaten her. "Stop, right there."

Alice stilled within reach of the pedestal and Wesker indulged her.

"What's that?"

She looked straight into his shaded eyes.

"I don't go down easy." She kicked the tray off the table causing the medical scalpels to rocket for Wesker's face. The ex-project had counted on Bennett's slow reaction time and she wasn't disappointed. The traitor hadn't even moved, so she turned on him and kicked the gun out of his hand. Her next kick sent him flying onto one of the tables with a corpse and as he collapsed unconscious to the ground Alice turned back to look at Wesker, one of the scalpels had cut through the black tentacle on the side of his neck, but the rest of the blades were imbedded in the headrest of his chair.

She moved to pick up a shotgun, but the Dobermans had surrounded her and were guarding the weapons. The dog standing over one of her guns growled until its head began to split open. The head and neck came apart completely revealing rows and rows of canine teeth as well as a smaller version of the forceps like the undead had in the prison. It was more than enough to give her pause. She started to back away, but the dog on the table behind her opened up as well and its insides were also coated sharp teeth and red-tinted mucus.

Suddenly a door opened across from Wesker, and Chris and Claire emerged with weapons drawn.

"What's this?" Wesker scoffed at the two, "a rescue?"

Alice answered with satisfaction. "I told you I'd be bringing a few friends."

"You should've brought more," Wesker smirked and pulled off his sunglasses exposing his glowing-red eyes. He turned and threw the shades at Chris, then ran at the two. The former S.T.A.R.S. member caught the tinted lenses before they could hit his face and Wesker was instantly in front of the siblings.

The brunette saw Wesker move with unrealistic speed and she couldn't be timid any longer – not now that Claire was in danger.

Wesker grabbed Claire by her outstretched wrist and threw her on her back as he elbowed Chris in the gut and took back his sunglasses before the man fell backwards. Claire writhed in agony on the floor and Alice made her move. She dove for the unguarded shotgun and the dog standing on the table leaped at her. As it descended she fired into its split-open body, and the Doberman fell to the ground dead. The quarters continued on their path and shattered the glass panels above her. The next dog ran at Alice as she stood and brought her arms up to shield herself from the falling glass. A large, jagged plane of glass was descending in the perfect position, so the brunette kicked the center and sent it spinning right into the lunging dog nearly completing the cut down its middle.

As the dog fell to the floor Chris charged Wesker and Bennett ran at Alice. The traitor took a swing at her and she tried to block it, not realizing that he had a scalpel in his hand. The knife pierced right through her forearm and Alice grabbed her elbow in pain. She heard the burst-fire of Chris's assault rifle as she looked at the scalpel. Bennett smiled and Alice grabbed the handle and lifted blade out of her arm; the producer's smirk turned into a look of apprehension. Scalpel in hand, Alice drove the knife right through Bennett's skull. The traitor fell to the floor and Alice turned back to face the action.

Chris had just been kneed in the gut, and Wesker snatched him by his vest and pitched him forward. The adversary had another black tentacle emerging from the one Alice had cut open, and it completely covered his left eye and displaced his shades. Wesker seized them and whipped them to the ground in anger. Chris threw down his empty assault rifle and started to fire his pistol as the ex-project picked up a shotgun to join the fray.

Wesker evaded Chris's bullets by flipping backwards, and the brunette saw that he was headed straight for Claire who had just gotten up and was about to fire at the man. Alice aimed her gun at Wesker, but it was too late. He'd taken a hold of Claire's gun-hand and twisted it around so that the weapon was pointed directly at her chest. _No,_ Alice's internal voice yelled the thought and she rushed to figure out her next move.

Her decision was made for her. Wesker pulled the trigger of the redhead's gun and the earsplitting shot ripped through Claire and him alike.

"CLAIRE!" Alice and Chris screamed in unison.


	33. Ridding the World of Evil

Chapter 33: Ridding the World of Evil

Claire's outcry resounded in Alice's ears as her chest seized in fear. Wesker released his hostage and the redhead collapsed to the ground. Chris opened fire on the man but he avoided the bullets and moved in to attack. Alice dropped her gun in shock and sprinted for the younger woman. The brunette fell on her knees; her heart beating out of her ribcage as she brought her lover into her arms.

Crimson fluid poured from the wound like a spring. The brunette put pressure on Claire's chest with a shaking hand, but the warm liquid continued to seep past her clenched fingers.

"_Alice._" The redhead's voice was overflowing with pain.

The taller woman tore her gaze away from her blood-covered hand to meet green eyes, and said like a reflex, "You-you're going to be fine, baby." The fight between Chris and Wesker raged behind the pair.

Claire pooled all her strength to smile for Alice. "Since when do you call me baby?"

"Since I realized how much I love you."

"I could get used to hearing that," the younger woman responded, trying to continue the banter to keep Alice from noticing the hurt and desperation that filled her body with every ounce of fluid that left.

"Then you'll hear it forever. Baby – _don't leave me_." The redhead may have been able to pull the anxiety from her voice, but Alice couldn't and it broke Claire's bleeding heart.

Alice would've given anything to trade places with her dying lover. She wanted to cry out; to scream to anyone who would listen, but the words were thick in her throat because she knew they would alter nothing.

The brunette was holding her, but Claire wanted to feel more of her before she couldn't feel anything at all. She weakly pulled at the hand Alice was using to keep pressure on the wound.

The taller woman hesitated in withdrawing her hand, the only thing prolonging the redhead's life, but Alice saw the need in Claire and did the hardest thing she could've ever done – she surrendered to Claire's fate. Alice clasped the younger woman's hand and entwined their fingers, smearing the lifeblood into the hopeless embrace.

The brunette promised herself that Claire would not feel the pain of her death. She would kiss it away. Alice gazed into the redhead's eyes trying to instill a peace that she herself was far from feeling. With the hand holding Claire's head in her lap, Alice rubbed the back of her neck soothingly and closed her eyes as she brought her mouth near her lover's. She trembled as she kissed Claire's paling lips one last time. Alice put every ounce of herself into the action; sorrow and torment were taken over by devotion and love.

Claire responded willingly to the intimacy of the touch…until she stilled beneath Alice's lips and her body relaxed with finality. The redhead's grip went slack, but Alice kept their fingers interlocked.

The brunette lightly brushed their noses together as she pulled her face away. Alice looked up without seeing; tears streaked down her face unnoticed as she let out a guttural sob that tore her insides to pieces. She used every last bit of air in her lungs during the outburst and it left her dizzy. Had the motion not been involuntary, she wouldn't have taken another breath.

Alice looked at Claire's face. Death was supposed to be horrible and ugly. That's what the brunette had been surrounded with for years; nothing but bloody, rotting, disgusting corpses. But there was serenity to her lover's beautiful features, and if Alice didn't know better she would've said Claire was asleep.

_Claire – wake up, _Alice thought, _I need to see those green eyes. Please. _

Malevolent laughter filled Alice's ears, and it came from the man who had pulled the trigger on her lover. The brunette moved to set Claire's body down as gently as she could. She took hold of Claire's forsaken pistol and stood to face Wesker. The brunette snarled with uncontained wrath at the sight of him, and the semiautomatic shook in her grip as every muscle in her body tensed with rage. Her ribs and arm throbbed, but she was numb to the pain.

Chris took one look at his fallen sister and yelled, "You fucking BASTARD!"

The man charged Wesker, and took a swing at him but he blocked the blow. Alice fired at his head as she ran at him; he dodged the shots as well. Chris brought his pistol up, but Wesker dropped to the ground and kicked his legs out from under him. The brunette joined the fight with a booted foot right to Wesker's chin. The man staggered back, surprised at the landed hit. Before he could even retaliate Alice shot him directly in the face.

Wesker fell backwards like a ragdoll and for a moment Alice thought it was over, but then the tentacle shifted on Wesker's neck again, and the glove on his right hand was ripped away by a mass of the black forms that erupted and continued to shred his leather coat all the way up to his shoulder. The bullet hole grew new flesh and bone, and Wesker opened his exposed eye. He stood and looked at his mutated arm in disbelief.

"What have you done to me?" he raved.

Chris jumped on to Wesker's back and tried to choke him in the crook of his elbow. Wesker was only momentarily subdued. He used his human arm to pull Chris off his back, held the man in front of him, and the black mass of writhing tentacles grew to surround Chris and crush him. Alice fired half the clip into Wesker's body and he finally dropped his captive.

Wesker turned on Alice as Chris sputtered at his feet. The transformed man stepped right onto Chris's back as he walked to her. The brunette was about to fire again, but Wesker's altered limb knocked the gun from her hand; then his human arm punched her in the face. Blood spilled from Alice's mouth at the blow, and he grabbed her by the hair. Alice sneered and Wesker used his mutated fist to shovel hook her in the stomach. The pain exploded behind her eyes; she was certain that her ribs were truly broken now.

The man threw her to the ground, and kicked her hard in the gut sending her rolling across the floor. When she stilled, Claire's pistol was within her reach. She reached out wearily and took a hold of it. The brunette brought her arms in to raise her herself from the white tile. The exertion left her breathless and she teetered as her gag reflex was triggered. Alice coughed up pink blood, and halfheartedly wiped the frothy liquid from mouth with the hand holding Claire's gun. The pain to remain standing was excruciating.

Doubt clouded Alice's mind as Wesker marched over to her; he grew taller with every step as his confidence mounted. _I can't beat him. _She'd thought she had nothing left to lose, but there was one more thing out of her reach – vengeance. Wesker's mouth opened slowly to display his stretching forceps. He was a mere three feet from her now. _But I can keep him from what he desires, and maybe…Chris can…_

Alice tried to pretend her actions were noble; tried to pretend that she didn't know it would stop the pain of losing Claire. The redhead's drying blood, mixed with her own, made her skin stick to the grip of the semiautomatic as she strengthened her hold on it. All those clones, all her physical and mental abilities, and it still hadn't mattered. The best way to rid this world of evil…was to rid the world of Alice herself. With her blood out of the equation, Wesker would continue to mutate uncontrollably; then and only then could Chris succeed where she had failed. She brought a gun to her temple a second time.

Wesker's internal demon immediately withdrew and he screamed in disbelief.

"NO!"

The brunette placed a finger on the cold trigger when everything seemed to still. Wesker's lightning-fast movement was slowed to little more than centimeters a second. His hand was left reaching out to dislodge the gun.

'_Alice.' _The voice was inside Alice's head, but it wasn't her own. It was lighter; more feminine.

_Please don't stop me, _the brunette thought and was answered softly.

'_I don't want you to do this.' _

Alice had recognized the voice before, but only now did she realize who it belonged to.

_Claire?_ She knew it was impossible. Claire was dead, but she heard the redhead like she was standing right next to her. It didn't matter to Alice that it was probably just her imagination; that she was more than likely staging the entire thing. The words brought out her resolve like a phoenix. In all her years, Alice had never felt stronger than she did at this moment. It was born of equal parts rage and tranquility as she transcended the binds of ultimate surrender.

Time built back up its pace while Alice repurposed the last bullet in the weapon. She swiftly unfolded her arm at the elbow, extending her range, and aimed the gun straight for Wesker's nearing face.

Wesker never saw the move coming, even though the projectile entered the space directly between his eyes. The force of the close-range shot sent his head backwards with a vicious jerk as the bullet exploded out the back of his brain. The slide of Claire's semiautomatic remained locked back as Wesker dropped like a stone, but Alice knew he was just seconds from rising again.

She only had to avoid him until his mutation was complete, and it seemed that every time he died it sped up the process. The brunette let the empty weapon fall as Chris approached her, a driven look in his eyes, and handed Alice her unused shotgun. She took the firearm without a word and they both turned to face Wesker, guns at the ready.

This time when Wesker regenerated, his other arm and torso were covered in dark tentacles. The squirming mass tore and pierced through every seam of his clothes making his coat fall from his body completely and his pants rip in several places.

He lashed out at them with a limb of tentacles, but they both ducked the sweeping blow. His mutated form had drained him of his speed and he could no longer avoid the bullets being emptied from Chris's gun. Chris shot Wesker twice in the shoulder and then had to dodge as the man swung again.

Alice had only two shots; she would have to make them count. Wesker charged Chris and the ex-project dropped to a crouch and tripped Wesker as he passed her, intent on using her first shell to blow his brains out. The brute tumbled to the ground and rolled just in time to avoid Alice's quarter-filled slug. A few coins pierced his neck, but the majority took a chunk out of the tile where Wesker's head had been a second before.

The brunette placed her finger on the second trigger of the shotgun, but would have to wait for a better opening to use it. Wesker was back on his feet; he shuddered once and then turned to face Alice. His uncovered eye was pitch black and surrounded by writhing tentacles making his face completely unrecognizable; Alice knew that he was the head of the Umbrella Corporation no longer.

The beast shot his tentacles out, but she sidestepped them and they flew past her. The brunette couldn't move out of the way on their return however. The mutated limb grabbed her around the torso as the brute pulled her to him. The pressure on Alice's ribcage was unbearable, and she was becoming faint from pain and lack of air. Chris shot into the creature and the force around Alice's chest lessened enough for her to catch a breath. She was too close to shoot him, so she brought her shotgun back and smacked him across the face with a satisfying show of force. The fiend cried out with an inhuman voice and dropped Alice to recover from the blow.

Alice used all the effort she could muster to rise again; it wasn't enough. She was stuck on her hands and knees until Chris reached down, and gently took a hold of her shoulder and arm. He lifted her with a tenderness befitting his sister and Alice was back on her feet. They turned to face the man that was once Wesker as the monster brought up both of his limbs to attack them.

Chris sighted in his pistol as Alice did likewise with her shotgun. He spoke with intensity.

"I don't think so."

Alice pulled the last trigger on her weapon; expelling her final shot right into the beast's face and Chris opened fire as well. The quarters shredded through the mutated face taking with them chunks of flesh both black and pink, and Chris's first bullet entered dead center into his forehead. The adversary plummeted to the ground and was still. The brunette waited a moment to see if it was truly over; the black tentacles never moved again.

The resolution that had filled Alice during the battle, abandoned her the second Wesker fell to the floor, dead. She suddenly found herself collapsing as well. Alice's body rejected her control and she relented. Her legs caved and she dropped to her knees, then to her hands, and finally onto her stomach. Chris was instantly at her side and lifted her up into his arms as he kneeled on the tile. More blood poured from her lips as she heard K-mart's frantic voice. The teen was crying out and Chris was trying to soothe her, but none of it mattered to Alice – all she wanted was to see Claire. She turned her head and her blue eyes searched the area around her until they settled on the redhead.

An image came unbidden to her mind; it was Claire sitting on the edge of a boat, tugging on the collar of her red vest as her hair was swept up in the wind. Claire took her gaze from the teal water and looked lovingly at the brunette as her lips turned upwards into a sweet smile.

_My debt is finally paid. _Alice let her eyes fall closed. _Claire…_

* * *

**Deep breath, everyone. This is not the end; there is one more chapter to go. I promise if you stick with me you will not be disappointed. Feedback (as always) is greatly desired and appreciated.**


	34. Before It Begins

Chapter 34: Before It Begins

In an instant Alice was awake; the pupils of her blue eyes contracted painfully when she exposed them to the morning light, but she left them open. She felt her senses assaulted by the remnants of the dream she had escaped. Her breath was staggered, until she felt the arm draped across her stomach. Her heartbeat exploded inside her ears, until she felt warm fingers interlock with her own.

"What it is it, babe?" Claire said sleepily.

"Oh – nothing. Just a dream," the brunette tried to throw up a shield and brush the redhead's concern off.

"What was it about?"

There really was no denying Claire – not for Alice. She released the younger woman's fingers and turned around in her hold; between them their hands picked up where they left off, and crystal blue eyes met deep green.

"I…it was so strange. If I wouldn't have woken up just now, I would've sworn that it was more like reality than _this_," Alice looked to their surroundings; all seemed exactly as it was when she'd fallen asleep for the night. A light breeze from an open window ruffled the fabric attached to the bed's canopy revealing a silver framed mirror and a marble fireplace. The brunette glanced around once more and continued talking. "You were in it, and so was the Corporation…"

"See – I told you. You know you're working too hard when you start having dreams about your job," Claire scoffed lightly.

"It was more than that. I don't know. Now I'm struggling to remember, but _Claire_…" The brunette fought to find the words to express the uneasiness that rested like a stone inside her chest.

Claire knew her lover well enough to see that she needed comfort. "Hey, it's ok. Everything's fine."

The taller woman closed her eyes, trying to let the words soothe her. Then she felt Claire's compassion reinforced with a kiss. It was slow and hesitant at first, equally calming and arousing. The redhead was asking permission to reassure the brunette with her touch, and Alice was wiling.

Their kissing became passionate and Claire closed the space between them. The redhead lightly pushed Alice onto her back and climbed on top of her. She used her hands to explore the taller woman's toned body, and took her sweet time enticing the brunette into a dazed state of arousal; avoiding the places Alice needed her most but lingering on the edges just long enough to excite her.

When Alice couldn't take it anymore, she turned the tables on her lover by rolling her over, and began her own seduction. She teased Claire's naked body with her tongue, but stopped her downward wandering as the phone rang on the nightstand.

"Oh, don't get up. Let the machine get it," Claire pouted and the brunette smiled mischievously, intent on doing just that. Alice ran her fingers down Claire's exposed ribs to the inside of her thigh causing her to shudder in delight as the phone continued to chime in the background.

The answering machine picked up, and the two women in bed could hear Alice's laughing voice. "_Hi, you've reached Alice and Claire Abernathy – Claire, god stop,_" the recording continued as Alice tried to persist, but her mirth took dominion over what she was trying to say. "_We're not here to take your call._" There was a pause in the recording followed by a breathless Alice quickly wrapping up the message. "_But-we'll-get-back-to-you-as-soon-as-we-can._"

Suddenly a whispered comment could be heard from the device in the redhead's distinctive tone. "_Unless we're too busy having sex._"

The recording of Alice responded with surprise, "_Claire!_" Then the playback ended with a click, and the younger woman chuckled.

"I can't believe we haven't changed that yet," Alice said with amused disbelief as she waited to hear the message.

"Oh, you can hardly hear it," the redhead jeered.

A man's voice emanated from the machine after a few seconds of silence. "_Alice…_"

"Why the hell is _Spence_ calling?" Claire asked with barely contained hatred for Alice's ex, and the brunette shrugged with uncertainty.

Spence's monotone took over again. "_Today all your dreams come true._"

Alice's face fell as her dream rushed back to her. A blue vial shattered on the floor, a ship floated in the distance, the Red Queen stared with menace, a tanker exploded in the desert, a gory dog snarled, followed by the most startling image of them all – Claire bleeding out on a pure white floor. The vision was overpowering and Alice fought hard to reclaim her composure.

"Your dreams? What the _fuck_ does he mean by that?" Claire demanded.

Alice bolted out of the bed and quickly started dressing into her combat gear. She threw on her pants and a shirt first; then pulled on her dark leather military boots. As she laced them, Claire sat up in the bed to speak.

"Alice wait, what's going on?"

"I don't think I can explain it, but listen to me," the security operative looked into the redhead's eyes to convey the importance of her next words. "Take the first flight to L.A., find your brother, and stay with him." Claire's eyebrows knitted together as she puzzled over the command.

Alice put on her bulletproof vest and zipped it; then walked to the dresser and pulled out the second drawer. Encased in glass was her personal weapon locker. Like rapid fire she punched in the seven digit key-code, and the glass slid back giving her access to two submachine guns, two pistols, a 12 gauge shotgun, and ammunition for all. She started to load up and put the weapons on her person. The last gun she readied was the 12 gauge.

"Where are you going?" Claire pulled the satin sheets off her and rose from the bed.

The brunette pumped the obsidian slide of her shotgun once.

"To work."

Alice put the gun in the holster on her back, and even though she was in a hurry, stopped to watch Claire pull on her jeans. The brunette bit her lip in memory of the state of arousal the both of them had just been in, and sighed wistfully.

"Alice-" Claire was about to protest as she continued to dress, but the brunette cut her off.

"Baby, trust me."

"I do."

_This is my first last chance to tell her how much she means to me, _Alice realized. _I may never see her again._

The brunette walked over and took Claire's hands in her own. The redhead could see the gravity behind whatever Alice was about to say.

"You are _all_ that matters to me."

The words weren't enough; if Alice was going to do this right – she would have to show her, but she was suddenly nervous. The brunette turned to humor to combat the anxiety of the emotions she felt.

"Kiss for the road?" Alice inquired with one eyebrow raised.

Claire pulled her hands away to fold her arms in iron will as she replied. "Only if you promise that the road leads you right back to me."

_Leave it to Claire's stubbornness to say everything I couldn't, _Alice thought with a smile, and her earlier playfulness melted away to reveal the devotion she felt for the redhead as she gave her word.

"I promise."

Alice placed her hands on the back of Claire's shoulders and moved in to kiss her. She dipped her head slightly, and caught the redhead's lips with confidence. _I will come back to you, _Alice thought and her dream came to the surface. _I won't lose you again._

The younger woman slowly dropped her folded arms as she surrendered to the kiss; the second she put them on the brunette's waist, Alice pulled her into a tight embrace and Claire returned it with fevered intensity.

* * *

**Well it's been a ride, eh readers? I'd like to take a second to thank cantholdon and startariotinme for their help. A lot of this would not have been possible without them. Please review; this is your last chance to tell me if the story was any good, so take advantage - yes? Farwell readers :)**


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